Harry Potter: Strength of a Family
by KRAftdinnER
Summary: What would Harry's Hogwarts experience be like if he had people there to actually help him win? Features a helpful Dumbledore, a tormented Snape, a free Sirius, and parents that lived. Read as Harry becomes the next great leader of the light with his friends and family helping him along the way. Canon for first 2 years before going off the rails in year 3. H/HR. Super H & Voldemort
1. The Attack

All characters belong to J.K.R. I'm just having some fun with her wonderful creation

* * *

Harry Potter and the Strength of Family

**Chapter 1: The Attack**

Lily and James Potter were enjoying yet another quiet evening in their hide-away cottage in Godric Hollow with their young son Harry Potter. They had gone into hiding under Dumbledore's orders over a year ago, shortly after Lily had given birth to Harry. They didn't understand fully why it was of such importance for them to do so, but with the looming threat of war, both James and Lily were willing to do anything they could to secure the safety of their son.

The solitude was definitely getting to the two parents however, as after spending countless lonely nights cooped up in the two bedroom cottage, it was quickly becoming their own personal prison.

Both James and Lily missed the times when they were free to go out to the bar with their friends, or head into muggle London for a night on the town. Neither of the parents took too well to their solitude, but both would readily accept living like this for another dozen years if it meant that Harry would not be harmed.

Thankfully their friends were there to make it easier on them. They got several visits from their friends Sirius and Remus, even McGonagall and Dumbledore stopped by when they could, always bringing a new toy with them for baby Harry.

Life wasn't easy, but Harry was growing up quite nicely and both his parents couldn't be happier. He had begun speaking just a few months ago, and his vocabulary was growing every week. His parents played and read to him every day, doing what they could to keep the little tyke happy.

Harry was an exceptional child. His parents had been astounded when they learned that he could perform magic at such a young age. It was unheard of for a child to be controlling their magic before they could even walk, or speak, and yet Harry could do just that.

He had performed his first bout of magic when he was just 7 months old, as he changed the color of his toys to match his hair-color. The parents were at first worried that he wouldn't be able to control it, but when they discussed the feat with Professor Dumbledore he seemed exceptionally pleased. When they asked him if it would be best to consider binding Harry's magic until an older age when he could better control it, Dumbledore urged them not too, saying it would be better to let him practice his gifts now so that he could yield them later. Both parents could see some logic in what the old-wizard had said, but also got the sense that there might be something else he wasn't telling them. However, aside from being a little frustrated that the old coot never told them anything, they knew he had their best interests at heart. Dumbledore just preferred not to tell anyone anything if he could get away with it. It was just the way the old man was. Besides, Harry's magical exploits were practically the only entertainment available to the two parents, so they weren't too inclined to put an end to it. Strangely enough though Harry never seemed to lose control of his magic like they would have expected. After learning that he could levitate small objects on command, the two adults began to wonder if perhaps these feats weren't actually accidental. C_ould Harry possibly be knowingly performing magic? _Thought Lily.

She didn't really know if this was normal for a child to do at such a young age, having been a muggleborn herself and James an only child. She figured they could always ask McGonagall, but even though she had absolute faith in the woman, she didn't really want Harry's abilities to become public knowledge. Besides, she had the sneaking suspicion that Harry's abilities were likely part of the reason why they went into hiding, after all Dumbledore never really did reveal the full truth of his actions. If anything Alice would be her best option, as Remus had told her that she too went into hiding with her husband after she had given birth to Neville.

She still remembered that day like it was yesterday, when Dumbledore had called James, herself, Alice and Frank into his office and pleaded with both families to go into hiding. He had warned them that Voldemort would be targeting them soon, so naturally the two families had followed the great mentor's advice, and had hid-away in this isolated cottage for the past 2 years. If only she had thought to ask where Alice and Frank were hiding, then they could at least organize play dates for the two children. She had tried getting one of the Potter elves to bring a message to her friends, but wasn't too surprised to find that not even the house elf could locate them. After all, it would be rather silly to hide under the Fidelius charm but not have protections against unknown house elves.

She had hoped that maybe Remus, Sirius, or Peter might be able to find out where they were living, but apparently Dumbledore was the only one who knew and he wasn't prepared to tell anyone.

The whole thing was rather frustrating. If she had to spend much longer locked up in this dingy old cottage, she knew she would start developing grey hairs.

However as she was about to find out, grey hairs were the least of her worries.

* * *

While the three Potters were lounging in front of the fireplace, a lone figure was making his way up the garden path to the back door of the cottage. Within seconds Lord Voldemort had blown the back door of the cottage off its hinges.

James Potter who had previously been snuggled up on the sofa with his son and wife was now desperately trying to activate the defences he had in place to buy Lily and Harry time to escape.

He was one of the top Aurors in the Ministry and had completed his mastery in Transfiguration, so he was well prepared to put up a good fight against almost any opponent.

Unfortunately not even a swarm of transfigured battle animals would hold back the Dark Lord if he had been the one to break in their door.

Furiously he pushed that thought from his mind, even if it was Voldemort who had come for his family he had to give them a chance to escape. He knew he was willing to die before he let this monster harm his family, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

The cold, manipulative voice that came from the front entrance however was enough for him to know that there was a very good chance it might just come to that.

The Dark Lord had just invaded his home.

The monster was bare-foot with a large black cape that covered his body from head to foot. The only thing you could see was his bony white hands and ferocious red eyes. The sight would have been enough to make just about any man cower in fear, but James was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing him cringe. If he was going to die, he was going down fighting. Like a true Gryffindor!

"You've had your chances Potter, three times you've evaded me. It will not happen again. Tonight I will enjoy invoking the greatest suffering imaginable on you. Think of it as a little token of retribution for your behavior at the Three Broomsticks a few years back."

James tried his best to appear as convincing as possible, but even he couldn't hide the quiver in his voice as he replied, "I'm not afraid of you, or your unforgivables."

Voldemort just smiled. "No James, you may not be. But I have other plans for you. You see I don't plan to kill you." At the momentary look of shock that past James's face before returning to a look of fierce determination he continued, "No, it would be a waste to see such pure-blood spilt. Your wife and son on the other hand are a different story. After I've killed you're son, I will take the greatest pleasure in torturing and killing your wife in front of you, leaving you to live with your own sorrow of having failed both of them."

James paled dramatically at this threat, but managed to get out a response before the argument erupted into a duel. "Stay away from my family. You can do whatever you want to me, but leave them."

He tried sending as many spells as he could but in truth he was no match for the Dark Lord in a duel. No matter how many hexes he sent in his direction, Voldemort simply put up a shield that just absorbed the spell. James knew he was just toying with him, it was his favorite thing to do with his victims, but he didn't care. He was more than willing to put up with such treatment if it bought the precious extra few moments for Lily and Harry to get to safety.

Unfortunately, Voldemort wasn't willing to give him that. After quickly dispelling the sofa-sized grizzly bear that was preparing to maul him, he finally started casting offensive curses towards him. When James was able to dive behind the kitchen counter and return fire with a few well placed reducto curses, Voldemort lost his temper. "ENOUGH!" screamed the monster, finally annoyed at playing with the desperate man, and with a swift movement of his wand, sent a sickly yellowish beam that connected with James chest, and sent him careening into the back wall in a heap.

As he stepped over James limp body, Voldemort chuckled to himself at what must have been Dumbledore's idea to set up anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards across the property. With the Floo-Network connection cut off, there was no way for the mother and son to escape.

Slowly he made his way to the stairs heading for the second floor where he had seen the mother and child run to.

As he rounded on the nursery he heard the sobs coming from the room.

"Harry, mummy and daddy aren't going to be around anymore… Harry, mummy loves you… Daddy loves you… We love you so much Harry…"

Voldemort couldn't help but sneer as he approached the couple. "And look where that love has gotten you. At the mercy of one who pursued something nobler. Perhaps if you weren't so foolish and had taken a greater interest in gaining power and less time wasted on pursuing love, you would have stood a chance… But alas your time has come, as you knew it would… Now stand aside like a good little mud-blood and I'll shorten your torture."

"No not Harry, take me, take me, please, just leave Harry" sobbed Lily.

"Stand aside girl, STAND ASIDE," growled Voldemort, quickly losing his patience.

Lily could hardly choke back her tears, which were flowing freely as she looked up into the cold eyes of the Dark Lord. Standing defiantly in front of her baby she nearly screamed "NO!" at him before attempting to throw any loose item she could at the intruder in hopes that it would somehow either change his mind or hurt him. In truth it was a very feeble attempt but Lily had worked herself into such a state of hysteria she wasn't even aware of what she was doing, all she knew was that she had to protect her baby from this monster.

"Very well, I suppose I'll have to crush your spirits before I can carry out my task"

And with that another sickly yellow beam collided with Lily and sent her sprawling along the floor, coming to a stop against the closet door at the far-end of the room.

As he approached the crib, he noticed a pair of green eyes look from his injured mother to the man in the hooded cloak.

Voldemort let out a little chuckle at the thought that this defenceless little boy could possibly hold the power to defeat such a powerful sorcerer as himself. And with that he approached the prophesized one with his wand practically begging to cast the killing curse. After all it wasn't the norm for the Dark Lord to cast two curses in succession that weren't unforgivables.

Tears started to fill the little boy's eyes as he thought of what this man had done to his mother.

"You bad man" cried the child.

"Quiet brat, I'd rather do this without you crying. I've always hated the sounds of infants."

And with that he pointed his wand at the boy's forehead and said the incantation to end his life "AVADA KEDAVRA".

Another beam shot from the yew and phoenix feather wand, only this time it wasn't yellow. It was green.

Voldemort chuckled at the thought that the only being that could stop him from invincibility was dying before he ever had the chance to oppose him.

However, his cruel high-pitched laughter was cut-off as the boy in question once more exclaimed, "You bad man".

His eyes widened in fear, as he looked down at the young boy who was now glowing white but with a passion in his eyes whose fire was fueled by pure fury.

Suddenly a second green shock wave exploded from little Harry connecting with Voldemort and throwing his now lifeless body against the door, as the roof exploded from the force of the spell.

The 2nd floor of the cottage was completely obliterated burying the 4 bodies underneath the wreckage caused by the spells impact, with only the foundation of the south side of the house withstanding.

The explosion was enough to destroy both the Fidelius charm, and the muggle repelling wards that guarded the cottage.

About a dozen muggles froze in the street to see a destroyed house appear out of thin air, and a small plump bald man that was standing by the picket fence transform into a rat and jump into the sewer.

It was easily the strangest sight they had ever seen, and yet, none of them would ever remember it, as the Ministry would arrive on the scene in the span of a few minutes and obliviate each one of them. Not even bothering to learn what information they had on the man that had run from the property.

* * *

**Well there it is. The first chapter I've ever written on fan fiction. Drop me a review and let me know what you think. I'll do my best to answer any question you may have but I don't want to give away too much of the story.  
**

**Cheers, KD**


	2. Picking up the Pieces

Sirius Black was pushing his motorcycle to its limit, begging it to go as fast as it could. He had to get to the Potter's. He had to make sure they were okay. As soon as he realized Peter wasn't at home, he had assumed the worst and took off towards the cottage at full speed.

He knew Peter wasn't the strongest wizard, and by himself wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. What if he had been captured and in attempt to save his own skin, betrayed Lily and James?

He couldn't believe he had suggested they switch secret keepers and now the very next day, the rat was nowhere to be found. He couldn't help himself from feeling an overwhelming sense of dread that if anything happened to them it was he who had unknowingly given over his friends to the traitor. He would have been the cause of their deaths, and all because he thought it was a good idea to trust Peter Pettigrew.

He swore that if anything had happened to his best friends he'd kill the rat if it were the last thing he ever did.

* * *

What he saw when he finally reached the hide-away made his heart stop. Looking down at what was left of the cottage Sirius landed beside the crowd of witches and wizards that were rapidly gathering by the edge of the garden. As he touched down Sirius immediately noticed 6 figures: the gigantic body of Hagrid, the plump body of Cornelius Fudge, the intimidating figure of Amelia Bones, the disheveled and enraged body of Remus Lupin, the now-grieving-no-longer-stern figure of McGonagall and the not-so-notoriously-aloof body of Albus Dumbledore.

"Please tell me they're not dead" Sirius managed to choke out, in-between his sobs.

"AS IF YOU WOULD CARE BLACK! YOU BLOODY WELL DID THIS! YOU LED HIM RIGHT TO THEM!" screamed Lupin as he went for his wand. He couldn't believe that Padfoot had betrayed Lily and James like this, they were practically the man's family and this was how he repaid them. He swore he'd get vengeance for Lily and James.

"Remus I swear I didn't know. I would have never suggested they switch secret keepers if I'd known Peter was the traitor. I can't believe I ever trusted that rat… I'm so sorry Remus. It's all my fault. I never should have convinced them to use Peter, I practically gave them right to him." Whimpered Sirius, openly sobbing before he got halfway through the second sentence.

"Alas it is true Remus, Pettigrew was the traitor amongst us," sighed Dumbledore. "I performed the spell to switch secret keepers only last week."

Remus couldn't help himself. Staring at the form of his best friend, and the destroyed cottage behind him, he too broke down into anguished sobs.

The usually stern figure of Professor McGonagall could hardly compose herself as she weakly asked, "How bad is it Albus?" She couldn't possibly bring herself to think that two of her favorite students, two of her lions, were murdered along with their baby boy.

However Albus never got a chance to answer as a small, whimpering cry could be heard through the wreckage.

Hearing the noise gave each of them the hope that maybe somehow the Potters could have avoided certain-death.

As the group darted into the demolished cottage they quickly came across the body of James at the foot of the stairs.

As Sirius shockingly approached the body of his best friend he felt the relief wash over him as he felt a pulse push through his cold hand. His pulse was the only thing that kept Sirius from dropping to the ground in guilt as he took in the sight of his best friend's body. He was as cold as a statue and was completely unresponsive, the only sign that he was alive was the slow pulse that flowed through his wrist and the flashing looks of worry that could be seen in his eyes.

Sirius couldn't help himself as he broke down into sobs before he could exclaim, "He's alive, but we need to get him to St. Mungo's and quickly."

At hearing this, Remus also felt a wave of relief wash over him but he still cut his best friend off before he could levitate the body onto a stretcher.

His stifled reply of "We will, just as soon as we check on Lily and Harry," left all seven of them cringing in fear. They knew how lucky they were to have found one body alive, they could only pray that luck held true to Lily and Harry.

As the group made their way up the broken staircase they once again heard the cry coming from the nursery down the hallway.

Immediately Dumbledore was rushing over the fallen debris, frantically trying to get into the room that housed the child of the prophesy, a sense of hope that somehow he was alive filling him for the first time since he had laid eyes on the cottage with the Dark Mark glowing above.

As they opened the doorway the group came across a sight they would never forget. Little baby Harry was standing over his mother crying, begging her to wake up, with the body of the Dark Lord lying across the room.

"Mummy won't wake," choked Harry before being engulfed into the enormous arms of Hagrid as the two cried loudly.

Visibly shaken, Sirius and Remus once again approached their fallen friend, and once again felt the relief that she was alive and only in the same condition as James.

It was then that they remembered the discarded body of the Dark Lord.

The only sound that could be heard in the room was Harry's crying as the adults all stared at the cloaked figure.

"Albus that can't be…" came McGonagall's frantic and worried reply.

"It is…" was all Amelia could manage in reply. She was completely flabbergasted to learn that the lifeless body of the Dark Lord could be found in this boy's bedroom when he was the only conscious member of this encounter.

"But how…" came the ever expected blustered response from Cornelius Fudge.

The group could only stare dumbly as they tried to piece together the demise of the Dark Lord at what appeared to be at the hands of a baby boy.

"Somehow he…"

At this Harry managed to choke out "He hurt mummy, me want bad man to go away."

The group turned on Harry and suddenly realized the bleeding scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead. The proof that he had survived the killing curse, and the mark that would tell the tale of his vanquish of the Dark Lord for the rest of his life.

Once again the group was left dumb-founded trying to grasp the inconceivable through broken, unfinished questions directed at no one in particular.

"He couldn't have…"

"How…"

"I have no idea… but he must have… How else could this happen?"

"It must've been Lily... She was always a brilliant witch, perhaps she found a ritual or something?"

"Does such a thing even exist?"

Finally Remus cut off the group from asking any further questions as he tried to get them back on track to what needed to be done.

"We don't have time for this we have to get them to the hospital. We can talk once they're being treated."

And with that Hagrid, Remus, Sirius, McGonagall and Dumbledore apparated the Potters to St. Mungo's while Amelia and Fudge returned to the Ministry. News of what had happened in Godric Hollow was sure to be known by every witch or wizard in England by the next morning.

They could only hope that Lily and James would live to hear the story.

* * *

Peter Pettigrew was silently panicking; he didn't have a clue as to what he should do to save his own skin.

What was supposed to be a fairly straightforward execution mission had somehow gone horribly wrong, and his master had been defeated in the process.

With no one to protect him, he was truly screwed. When the other death eaters found out that he had been the one to lead their master to his demise it would certainly spell trouble for him, and Peter really didn't fancy being on the receiving end of Bellatrix's wand yet again. The Aurors wouldn't react much better. If Dumbledore had told the Order as to whom the real secret keeper was, he wouldn't even be left with the possibility of diverting the blame onto Sirius Black.

It was only a matter of time before someone found him. He didn't have any delusions that he could hide from Mad-Eye Moody or any of the master Aurors if they were looking for him.

His only hope was to get out of the country before they sent out a search party and even then that would be a long shot.

With the threat of the Dark Lord gone, he would undoubtedly have become the Ministry's most wanted for betraying the Potters.

He couldn't believe his old friends had accomplished what they did that night. A part of him hated himself for joining Voldemort, but at the same time what choice did he have?

No one could have honestly expected Lily and James to be able to hold off the Dark Lord, and it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would win the war. Not even Dumbledore was strong enough to defeat him.

How his friends managed it he hadn't the foggiest. If anything he could only speculate that Lily must have found some old ritual or something. Dumbledore was always drowning on and on that love was the greatest force of magic, and it wouldn't have surprised him if either parent had given up their life to save their son.

He couldn't think of such things right now however. He had to get someplace safe.

The sewer system of Godric's Hollow was hardly a place where one could seek refuge.

It was only a matter of time before hundreds of wizards arrived at the scene of the crime.

He had to leave. He had made his mistake, and now he was going to suffer for it.

* * *

Barty Crouch was practically beside himself in jubilation. He had just overseen the clean-up of the Potter cottage in Godric Hollow, mainly obliviating muggles and removing precious family heirlooms, but it was during this time that he had discovered the unthinkable.

Somehow the Dark Lord had been defeated.

All those years he had put in fighting crime, locking away criminals and toughening up the Auror corpse had done nothing to withstand the force of Lord Voldemort when he first rose to power.

Magical Britain had been riddled in fear, and now for the first time in five years, they were free.

The whole country would remember this day.

Returning home to his ill wife and son, Barty took great delight in sharing with them the first good piece of news they had received ever since Junior had graduated Hogwarts with honours.

It certainly was a good day in the Crouch household, and for wizarding families everywhere.

* * *

**Yes I decided to throw the Crouches at the end of this chapter. Seemed like an excellent way to introduce the fate that awaited the Longbottoms...  
**


	3. Healing

After spending two evenings in the most secure private ward the hospital had to offer, with not a single healer able to assess the damage to the Potters, things were starting to look grim.

Harry had spent the whole time sleeping, no doubt in need of recharging his magical core after what he had just done two nights prior. It was simply assumed that he had suffered a severe case of magical exhaustion after performing such a feat of magic, so he was promptly given a dreamless sleep potion, so that he could rest until he had recovered. The Marauders could only hope that he would recover from such an incident at such a tender age, and that his parents would be awake to hold him when he did.

With all three members of the Potter family effectively down for the count, the marauders found themselves panicking over what exactly had happened that night, and if their friends would be able to recover.

Things only went from bad to worse the next day when Dumbledore announced that Frank and Alice Longbottom had been brought to the hospital under permanent cruciatus damage. Both Alice and Frank had been friends with Remus and Sirius during their time at Hogwarts. Frank had been Head Boy during their 6th year and Alice had been Lily's best friend. Now, here they were in the beds across from Lily and James, all because apparently a few death eaters paid them a visit after hearing news of the Dark Lord's defeat at the hands of the Potters.

Once again they felt a wave of guilt wash over them at the thought that they had been the ones to send word to the Longbottoms about the attack on Godrics Hollow, and therefore responsible for the injuries they sustained the day after coming out of hiding at the hands of Bellatrix, Barty Crouch Jr. and the Lestrange brothers.

The only bright side of the incident was that their son Neville had been spending the day with his Grandmother, Augusta, so had been saved from harm.

Since they had been brought in neither Sirius, Remus, Augusta, Neville nor McGonagall had left the ward, each still trying to come to grips with what had happened. They were too filled with grief to even consider leaving their friends, parents or former students.

Neither Remus or Sirius had ever felt so terrible in their entire life. They truly blamed themselves for everything that had happened to their friends, and didn't think they would ever forgive them.

However that day the group received the first bit of good news they had received since that Halloween night. Harry had woken up.

As the group looked down on the two-year-old boy with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead they weren't surprised to see that he had already left his bed to crawl into his mother's arms.

As the group of adults were preparing for another restless night, they couldn't help but cry at the scene of two little boys each lying in their unconscious mother's arms.

The scene was interrupted however as little baby Harry once again accomplished what was supposed to be an impossible feat of magic.

The little boy was silently crying and once again pleading with his mother to wake up. His choked voice of "Wake up mummy, miss you" contained enough emotion to make any parent's heart break.

Slowly a golden glow spread out from the boy's hands and made its way up Lily arms until it rested over her chest before lowering itself into her body causing her eyes to flicker open before she engulfed the little boy in her arms into a fierce hug, eliciting a giggle from the boy at his mother's actions.

The group could only watch dumbfounded as a toddler performed advanced magic with a level of control surpassing any of them as he managed to bring Lily out of her coma tossed state. Add to the fact that he did this without a wand, and they were starting to understand how this little boy had survived the Dark Lord's killing curse.

As the group silently cried Harry quickly fell asleep in his mother's arms.

The group anxiously rushed to Lily's bedside to see if she was okay but she was too busy crying over her little boy to pay them any attention.

It took over an hour for Lily to be absolutely sure that Harry was healthy and asleep, and only then did she turn to the anxious faces of her friends and tell them what she could remember.

She told them how James, Harry and herself had been relaxing in front of the fire-place before their back door had been blown off its hinges by the Dark Lord. She told them how James had tried to slow down Voldemort enough for Harry and herself to get to safety, but that with all the wards on the property there was no way to escape.

She told them of how she begged Voldemort to kill her instead of Harry before she had been hit with the yellow beam that had rendered her immobile and unresponsive, yet aware enough of her own surroundings that she would be able to see her baby murdered in front of her.

She told them of how she had witnessed Voldemort taunt her son before casting the killing curse at the crying baby.

Even she still couldn't believe what she had witnessed next as Harry began to slowly glow a brilliant white before the green beam reflected off him, hitting You-Know-Who in the chest effectively vanquishing the Dark Lord.

She described how Harry had pleaded with her to get up and how she had heard the group's discussion upon finding her body in the nursery.

The group could only cry as they listened to Lily's tale, too upset to even wonder how Harry had survived or revived his mother, but over-the-moon that he had done so.

* * *

The next day when Harry woke up he was once again looking into the teary eyes of his mother, who was silently holding her husband's hand.

"Mummy what's wrong?" came the reply from the worried little boy.

Lily could only look down at her precious child and remorsefully reply,

"James is still under the bad man's spell, he won't wake up," explained Lily.

Harry could only look over his mother's shoulder at the limp body of his father.

Hurriedly, he clambered out of his mother's arms and climbed onto his father's bed before resting his hand above his chest.

Lily could only look on as another golden glow stretched out from her son's arm, dissipating into the unresponsive body of her husband.

Much like what had happened to her the previous night, James began to awake. As his vision slowly returned it was once again immediately blurred by a mess of auburn hair.

He could only smile into his wife's hair and pull his giggling son into a hug, silently thanking the heavens that they had been spared somehow.

When his wife explained what had happened he felt his body go colder than it had been when he was under Voldemort's curse. Not only had his wife suffered a similar fate as him but the monster also tried to kill his son.

He didn't even care how Harry had survived the attack or managed to revive both Lily and himself, he was just relieved that his family had survived and would be able to move on from this event together.

* * *

News of the Potter's recovery spread like wildfire through the Wizarding World who had anxiously been following any news surrounding their heroes.

Augusta herself couldn't refrain from marveling at the actions of Harry Potter and even built up hope that maybe he could do the same for Alice and Frank.

Given the circumstances surrounding them, the Potters weren't allowed to leave the hospital wing until the numerous mediwitches caring for them had been assured they were healthy to leave.

And so when Augusta returned with baby Neville to visit her son and his wife that day, she wasn't too surprised to see the family still huddled together on one of the large white hospital beds.

It seemed to her however that the numerous nurses that bustled around them were more interested in fawning over baby Harry than actually doing their job, but given the circumstances surrounding the boy even she could understand their actions.

Cautiously she approached her friends hoping to ask them if Harry could attempt what he had done to them with Alice and Frank. Thankfully they didn't need much convincing, as they fully understood the situation the Longbottoms were under after having their family only repaired from such a broken state the night before.

It took a few attempts but Harry Potter was once again able to revive the Longbottoms from the land of the lost, much to the amazement of the large crowd who had gathered to watch the little boy attempt the impossible once again.

To say the group was amazed at Harry's power and control would be a great understatement. He had performed the impossible on 5 different accounts. When they questioned the Potters if Harry had performed magic before they were once-again amazed by James answer that Harry could apparently transfigure small objects, levitate people, summon things as large as a grand-father clock, and could even throw fire-balls at people.

For his part, once he got over his amazement, Albus Dumbledore was both ecstatic and frightened. If Harry could do all this as a toddler then the threat of Voldemort wasn't nearly as frightening as it used to be. On the other hand though if this boy ever went over to the Dark side there wouldn't be anybody capable of stopping him.

He quickly decided that he had to ensure Harry Potter was raised properly. He knew he had to ensure that the boy was nurtured and taught the ways of the light. He was determined to ensure Harry Potter was raised in the furthest environment possible from the one that shaped Tom Riddle. Anything else was simply unthinkable.

Harry meanwhile was just happy to be with his parents and surrounded by those who cared for him.

The scary thing about the whole situation was that no one was able to assess the lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's four head. Every time the St. Mungo's staff tried to cast a detection charm on the scar, or attempted to conceal the mark, the scar would turn black, before reappearing just as bloodied and vivid as it was when they had first laid eyes on it. Not Even Dumbledore was able to assess exactly what the scar was, but he was sure that it would have to be removed, considering the fact that the thing was evidently dripping in residual dark magic.

* * *

During the next week the Potters spent most of their time with the Longbottoms as each family felt they had been through such a traumatizing event that no one other than the other family could ever possibly hope to understand. It of course only helped their already established friendship to see Harry and Neville playing together, though Neville did manage to seem a combination of awed, scared and worried whenever Harry performed magic in front of him.

When it finally came time for the Potters and Longbottoms to leave the ward, nothing could have prepared them for the thousands of wizards and witches gathered in the lobby to cheer on the Boy-Who-Lived. The crowd was screaming at the two families as they fought to get a glimpse of the little boy.

"Is that him, does he really have the scar?"

"Lily! Lily please - oh please - could we hold Harry?"

"James, its John Corner of the Daily Prophet, I'd like to interview you and you're family…"

"Lily it's me Mark Mendelsohn from 4th year. I was wondering if you'd like to go out and get a cup of coffee some time. You know get to know each other a little… It's been far too long since we last met."

"James, the name's Cynthia Gunners, I was wondering if you'd consider arranging a betrothal contract between your son and my two daughters…"

However the growing crowd had caused Harry to once again go into protective mode as everyone outside of the Marauders, McGonagall, Dumbledore, the Longbottom's and the Potters soon found themselves being levitated by a very emotional 2 year old.

"No hurt family," came the cry of the little boy in Lily's arms.

The crowd could only gape as they witnessed magic performed to a level of power that not even Dumbledore could hope to match. Every single one of them was silently wondering how powerful Harry Potter was and will be.

To their part the adults couldn't help but wonder the same thing, but they had decided that it would be best to try to raise Harry and Neville with as normal a childhood as possible, away from the fame and pressures of the wizarding world in a nurturing and loving environment.

And so without a moment's hesitation the group took the opportunity to abandon the still shocked crowd, as they portkeyed away to Potter Manor to better discuss their plans for the future.

* * *

After putting the two children to bed, the adults set about a lengthy discussion over a large bottle of fire-whiskey where it was decided it would be most beneficial to raise Harry and Neville together as an attempt to combat the isolation they would undoubtedly feel from the rest of the wizarding world.

It was also agreed that when the time came McGonagall, Dumbledore and even Flitwick would offer there assistance in teaching the children magic when they were ready, although they each speculated that Harry was more ready now than any other child would be regardless of age.

The last thing they agreed upon was to hide-away in the muggle world for a few years as an attempt to let the whole boy-who-lived mania die down a bit before introducing the children to the wizarding world. It was also decided that they would put their new house in muggle England under the Fidelius once again but that this time they would use one of the house's inhabitants as secret keeper. After much arguing it was decided that the role should fall on Lily since she was the best suited for the task, as anyone who crossed paths with the mother would tell you of the danger you encounter with the high tempered witch and just how difficult it is to change her way of thinking.

With that the group of 6 left the manor the following day to purchase a nice new home in Kensington, which was promptly put under the most extensive wards system the greatest witches and wizards could provide, as an attempt to protect the family of the boy-who-lived.


	4. Growing up

**Realized I probably should have included one of these at the beginning but here goes: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters belong to J.K.R. I'm just having a little fun with her story.**

**I mainly just started writing this story for my own personal benefit and before I knew it I got pretty carried away. After my younger brother read it I decided to post it online to see what you guys would think. ****I've already written the story up to the end of Harry's third year at Hogwarts and will be posting updates fairly regularly. I plan on continuing the story all the way until Voldemort's downfall but I've still got to go back and fix a few things.**

**Unfortunately because I already have so much of it already written and planned out, I will be rather hesitant to make changes to the story line. I'd still like to hear what you have to say however.**

**Don't worry the action will pick up and the chapters will begin to get longer once Harry and his friends arrive at Hogwarts. For now I'm just trying to set the scene.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

It was a quiet sunny Saturday morning as 4-year-old Harry Potter raced through the halls to jump on his parent's bed.

He had spent the better part of last week working on the crystal watch he held behind his back that he would be giving to his mother for her birthday. He had used a combination of his parents old spell books and with some help explaining what different spells do from Uncle Moony, Harry had managed to transfigure a stone into a beautiful crystal watch before charming it to be water-proof, indestructible, scratch proof and of-course to actually work like a watch.

To say his mother was amazed at the gift would be an understatement. She was bursting with pride that her son had put so much thought and effort into making such a beautiful gift for her, and to do so with the magic they had been teaching him for the past year made her feel even better.

The only thing that Lily could still want on her birthday was to open up the debate with James as to having another baby, as despite the constant presence of Neville and the Longbottoms she wanted Harry to grow up with brothers and sisters and not as an only child.

For his part Harry had enjoyed a very happy normal childhood, or as normal as could be expected for a 4-year-old mage. The parents had been once again surprised by his abilities when they attempted to first teach Harry some basic spells when he had turned 3 (mainly because at this point he was doing magic so frequently they thought it was best to teach him how to use it properly). Despite struggling to read the spell books and finding it even more difficult to pronounce the wording of the spells or the proper wand movements that go with it, whenever the parents had explained what the spell was supposed to do, Harry could immediately perform the spell perfectly without moving his wand (it was a practice one given to him on his 3rd birthday that would only perform spells that his parents had given him permission to perform) or saying a word. When the parents questioned him on this Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and said he just thought of doing what the spell was supposed to do, and it would happen.

He had proven to be so adept in his abilities that they had even started to schedule lessons with McGonagall, Flitwick and Dumbledore over the past few months to teach the young boy how to control his magic properly.

While James was a little skeptical at Lily's idea, even he couldn't refuse after he and McGonagall walked in on him in the living room one afternoon playing with Neville, when Harry had suddenly transfigured the couch into a tiger and proceeded to chase it around the room.

Obviously when he could perform such advanced acts of magic, Harry found learning to perform basic charms or spells he already knew but with the correct wand motion and incantation fairly tedious but he relented when his mother had expressed how much she wanted him to do so.

* * *

Although he didn't get many opportunities to leave the house, Harry loved growing up with his family. Neville had become like a brother to him, as the two boys never seemed to leave each others side. Alice and Frank had become his honorary Aunt and Uncle, as did his parents for Neville. Augusta, McGonagall and Dumbledore were also included as the grandparents to the two young wizards.

His parents had tried to ensure he got a childhood as normal as possible, and although he didn't have any other childhood friends, it was never a dull day in the Potter-Longbottom household.

They enjoyed frequent visits by guests such as Grandma Augusta, Professor McGonagall (or as the boys had taken to calling her – Aunt Minnie) Professor Flitwick, Uncle Remus and Harry's Godfather Sirius. They even received several visits from Albus Dumbledore but his visits were usually rather short, and he was almost entirely focused on the upbringing of the two boys (Harry in particular) and any magic they had performed. The parents knew he was only concerned with this because Harry was the child of the prophecy but they weren't about to burden Harry with such a fact at his age.

Of all the visits Harry's favorites were when Sirius would come over. He and his father were relentless in their pranking wars much to the amusement of the kids, and had even expressed interest in showing them the tricks of the trade. However Lily and Alice had quickly ended any chance of that possibility at least for the next few years, as they didn't want Sirius corrupting their boys.

Sirius of course thought this was more than unfair but he wasn't about to argue with Lily or Alice when it came to the upbringing of Harry and Neville, you'd have a better chance convincing a stone to fly a broom. It was bad enough that Lily was always on his back for chasing birds, and on several occurrences had tried to get him to settle down with a girl of her choice, but now she was preventing him from passing on his knowledge to his godson. It was an outrage.

Of course Sirius's and his mother's frequent quarrels were just another thing Harry loved about his godfather's visits as he always found it rather amusing to see the usually free spirited Sirius chased out of the house by his mother.

Together they made up his family and he loved them more than anything. He wasn't too upset that he didn't get the chance to be around other children, as having so many adults in his family ensured that he and Neville received numerous gifts during the holidays.

* * *

Like the Potters, the Longbottoms couldn't be more proud of their own son. Sure he had yet to perform accidental magic but that was to be expected and they weren't about to start comparing him to Harry or anything, they were more than happy with how their son had grown to become a polite respectable young boy.

Unfortunately more than once Frank had to get into an argument with his mother, Augusta, over her treatment towards Neville.

Whether the older witch knew it or not, her insistence on comparing Neville to Harry was slowly degrading the boy's self-confidence, and Frank was determined not to let that happen to his son. In fact, when Augusta had the audacity to push young Neville off the second floor balcony during her last visit, in the misguided hope that it would cause the little boy to have his first act of accidental magic, Frank had blown his top and told her that unless she put an end to her behavior, she was no longer welcome in their home. They hadn't seen or heard from Grandma Augusta for over three months after that, but eventually she came around, though it was obvious that she was behaving much less friendly to all of them, as her discussions were much shorter and far less endearing.

The only regret each family had was that the two children really only had each other for friends as they had yet to meet a child their age in their muggle neighborhood, and the group had yet to re-introduce themselves to the wizarding world.

The parents had found it hard enough to tell both Harry and Neville the story of the war that had covered Wizarding Britain for the better part of 8 years, and even more difficult to tell the tale of their part in it and what had happened to them, before a 2 year-old baby Harry had been able to vanquish the Dark Lord and revive both sets of parents. Needless to say Harry was a bit skeptical of the tale but it did explain the weird lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead that always made his mother very sad whenever she caught a glimpse of it.

And so both sets of mothers found themselves discussing the possibility of having more children.

It didn't take much convincing for either father, as they loved the idea of having another child especially considering the effect it would have on Harry and Neville.

Both boys had of course been delighted to hear that they would be getting siblings. Harry had even boasted about getting to play the role of the over-protective big brother much to his parent's amusement.

They knew Harry would never harm anyone unless they gave him a very good reason to, but it was still slightly frightening to think of how much power the little boy possessed. Anyone that harmed his baby brother or sister was surely in for a world of hurt.

While many adults would be awed to learn the truth at just how powerful Harry was; all the Potters, Longbottoms and Marauders were worried about how much would be expected of Harry in the coming years especially with that damned prophecy hanging over his head.

And so as Lily lay awake on her bed cuddling both her son and her husband she silently pondered when it would be best to re-introduce Harry to the wizarding world that still saw him as a second-coming of Merlin.


	5. Insecurities

As to be expected, having thousands of random people shouting your name, each trying to shake his hand or touch his scar, was a very traumatizing experience for the 7-year-old Harry Potter.

He had been told by both his parents and his extended family that they thought it was time for him and Neville to be re-introduced into the wizarding world, but as soon as he had stepped foot in the leaky Cauldron, news of Harry Potter's return must have spread like wildfire.

As James, Lily, Sirius and Remus guided him though the Leaky Cauldron, people were literally pushing past each other just so they could throw themselves at his feet and thank him.

It was the strangest thing he'd ever experienced. He knew that he was supposedly famous for 'defeating' the Dark Lord but this was just ridiculous.

His parents had told him that the wizarding world was famous for putting their heroes up on a pedestal, but experiencing it was an entirely different matter.

Some people seemed to think that he and his entourage were saviors while others had the nerve to look down on Remus and the Longbottoms as if they weren't worthy of being seen with the Potters.

It didn't escape his notice that a small blonde haired boy was sneering at the sight of him and his family but before he could say anything an older man that could only be his father grabbed his shoulder and pushed him out of the pub. He'd have to ask his parents about him when they got back. He seemed like someone he should try to avoid.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was fuming.

Potter was paraded around like a pampered prince when in reality he was nothing more than another pathetic half-blood. That should have been him whose robes they were kissing!

Not for the first time he wished that the Dark Lord could have ended the brat's life on that Halloween – maybe then he wouldn't be forced to share what was rightfully his.

He hated the fact that he would never be the king amongst his year mates at Hogwarts. That Potter would undoubtedly get every woman he wanted when he was older and that he was sure to inherit the Black Family Lordship from his godfather.

As much as it pained him to say it, even he could see the benefits of being in the boy's good books, as he already possessed a remarkable amount of power.

All he had to do was to find a way to take back that power. Even a fool would know that challenging the boy would be a grave mistake. He still found it a joke that a mere toddler could accomplish what the world claimed he did but the proof of the mark fading on his father's left forearm told him what he needed to know. Somehow everything they said about the boy was true. He really had survived the Dark Lords killing curse and brought back his parents back from the dead.

"Stupid freak doesn't even know what's good for him," grumbled Draco. Unfortunately it was loud enough that his father could hear him.

"What did you say Draco? I didn't quite catch that," said Lucius, a feral smile on his face and his voice dripping with malice.

Draco cringed. "It's Potter. The stupid half-blood that didn't even have the good manners to die now has just about every witch and wizard bending over backward for him. There were even a few prestigious purebloods back there kissing the hems of his robes!"

"Yes it is quite an unfortunate turn of events," drawled Malfoy Sr. "But make no mistake Draco, there is much to be gained from earning the boy's trust. The Dark Lord was most generous to those of his followers that brought him information on his enemies…"

Draco quirked an eyebrow at that. Did that mean that the Dark Lord wasn't really gone? Was his father insinuating that he pretend to be friends with a Potter?

"Aligning yourself with the Potter boy would put you in the perfect position to hand him over to the Dark Lord when the time presents itself, and you will undoubtedly be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams for your efforts…"

Draco smiled evilly at that. Already he could just imagine the riches and power that would be given to him if he could hand Potter over to the Dark Lord. It would probably be difficult befriending Potter on the Hogwarts Express – heck it would even demand that he lower himself down to associate with a half-blood and a squib – but he knew he could do it.

Lucius was nearly at the end of Knockturn Alley before he realized that his son was no longer following him. Looking back over his shoulder he could see the boy standing there in the middle of the street with a glazed expression on his face. It was times like this when he realized just how young and naive his son truly was. He had a lot of growing up to do before he could do the Malfoy name justice. The boy seemed to lack any of the cunning that saw his ancestors put in Slytherin for hundreds of years.

Still it wasn't a hard role that he was asking of the boy. All he had to do was befriend someone. Even he couldn't screw that up.

* * *

The crowd was quickly making Harry uncomfortable, and he could see from the look on his face that Neville wasn't handling it all too well either. While well-wishers were surrounding the Potters, the Longbottoms were pushed to the back of the pub to make way for the Boy-Who-Lived and his family.

Having both grown up in a house with few visitors, the sight of such a crowd was more than a little unnerving to both boys.

Harry wanted nothing more than to get out of there as quickly as possible but his parents had expressed how much they wanted him to go through with this.

Their plan was to try and appease the raving mob surrounding Harry by giving the populace an opportunity to meet their hero before they once again returned to the muggle world for peace and quiet. That way at least the boys would be exposed to this reaction now when the parents were able to make sure things didn't get out of hand, instead of once they left for Hogwarts where they would be alone. With any luck the mania surrounding their families would die down in the coming years while they were hiding out in the muggle world.

Little did they know how significant the traumatizing effects this day would have on each boy over the coming years.

Harry, who was normally rather exuberant and energetic around his family was in the span of minutes transforming into a very shy and protective individual. The crowd of witches and wizards represented the fame that he had never wanted and only served as a reminder for what he had to endure as a baby and how he could never be just Harry.

Neville on the other hand was having a similar albeit different reaction to the crowd. The polite, respectful boy who carried himself with confidence was getting the feeling from the crowd that he was a worthless squib who didn't deserve to be friends with Harry. He too underwent a mental transformation in the span of minutes into a shy boy completely lacking in self-confidence.

In fact the two were rapidly changing their behavior to the point where they seemed completely unrecognizable from the way they carried themselves now as compared to the private solitude of their own home.

What seemed like a good plan originally had only served to plant numerous insecurities into the children's mind that would take years to overcome.

* * *

Seeing as their friends were in no impending danger, merely at risk to being swarmed in the Alley all afternoon, Frank and Alice took Neville to explore a few of the shops and get him away from the crowd that was clearly making him uncomfortable.

Squeezing their way through the back of the crowd the Longbottoms ducked into Flourish and Blotts to give Neville a little tour of bookstore and show him everything the magical world had to offer.

Alice thought it would be a good idea to maybe pick up a few children books while they were there, but decided against it. It seemed all they had in stock were Harry Potter fantasy novels and she was pretty sure that neither boy wanted to read that. She could just imagine how embarrassed Harry would be.

Neville just sighed when he saw that part of the store. He knew Harry was special, but it was really difficult learning just how famous he really was. He could only hope that he didn't forget about him when they grew up.

After purchasing a subscription to the Daily Prophet, Frank took Neville down the road into a small shop called Quality Quidditch Supplies.

It was a true testament to Harry's fame that the popular children's store was free of browsers for what was probably the first time since it opened but that didn't stop Frank from going in and having a look round. Neville followed him and managed a small chuckle for the first time that day when Frank joked about what Aunt Lily would say if she saw the posters of a young Harry Potter on the broom. Him commenting that Uncle James would probably buy the whole set had Frank grinning as he picked Neville up and put him on his shoulders, escorting him back into the Alley to meet up with Alice who had gone into the Apothecary next door to pick up a few potions ingredients.

Both men were a little surprised to see her standing there chatting happily to an elder woman and a little girl with strawberry blonde hair and a nice yellow sundress.

Seeing them walk in, Alice introduced Neville to the shy little girl – her name was Susan Bones – as the parents quickly began making plans to meet again and catch up.

Neville couldn't help but smile at the thought that they would be getting a few more visitors, especially one that would be a girl their age.

* * *

Thankfully for Harry, the parents didn't wait much longer before ending the trip to Diagon Alley. While he could admit that it certainly would have been nice to explore the Alley he never even made it into one of the shops as people crowded the streets to get to him.

His parents were very good at making sure no one got too close, as they knew he would prefer not being swarmed by a crowd of strangers.

In fact it was almost as if they were there as assigned Aurors rather than parent figures as the only time he saw them letting their guard down was when Sirius was talking to a witch named Andromeda and her pink haired daughter, Tonks.

When they finally did get home, Harry immediately had two little girls running towards him, both trying to jump into his arms to hug their big brother. They had been told that he would be receiving a rather unpleasant experience today given his fame. Of course given their age his sisters weren't really able to understand the gravity of the whole situation but they had never been without their big brother for a day so that was reason enough to give him a big welcome back hug.

Harry for his part was relieved to see his sisters again. Sarah his 3-year-old sister seemed to have inherited much of James appearance like himself he noted, but had already shown that she was more like Lily then James as she was easily the calmest of the three kids and was more than content to spend an afternoon on the couch with someone reading a book to her. His younger 2-year-old sister Clarissa was the spitting image of Lily with her vibrant auburn hair and piercing green eyes. She however unlike her older sister was always causing trouble frequently escaping her crib trying to hide away in Harry's room. He got the distinct feeling that she was a lot more like James than what you could have guessed from her appearance.

The other members of their large family were Neville's younger brothers, twins to be exact. Both Matthew and Joshua were three years old and were already showing that they would one day grow up to look identical to their father. However that was where the similarities stopped, as both boys were truly their mother's son. It was almost laughable how protective they were of Sarah and Clarissa, frequently trying to mimic their mother's actions. Frank and James seemed to find the whole thing hilarious, especially considering how easily they had their mothers wrapped around their little fingers. Alice would do pretty much anything for them. Sirius had even caught her sneaking them a box of cookies one afternoon while they sat in the library watching Lily read to Harry and Neville. The best part was that when either of the two older boys tried to take one, Alice would tell them off, leaving two very happy toddlers grinning at their chastised older brothers.

Either way Harry loved his family and was extremely protective of them and his friends, it did however bother him that they would all have to deal with a strenuous relation with the wizarding world because of him, but after the reception he got this afternoon he was more than happy to stay in the muggle world until he was a little older.

* * *

It was almost two whole months before either the Potters or the Longbottoms met another wizarding family beside the usual visits paid by the Marauders, Augusta or a few of the Hogwarts Professors.

Given they had spent their whole life in solitude it would be expected that both Harry and Neville were nervous around crowds, so both were very relieved that they would not have to go out in public to meet this family, as the Bones were coming to them for the afternoon.

Harry had been told that Amelia Bones was his father's old boss at the ministry and that she had been a part of that group that came to check on them on that disastrous Halloween.

Neville too also knew that his family had a good relation with the Bones having long served as allies over the years. Not to mention that his parents also worked under Amelia at the Ministry before they had gone into hiding. He had even met their niece Susan a few times before then but he was too young to remember that.

When they were finally introduced to the Bones, Amelia seemed to have lost the collected facade she was known for and was hugging all four adults evidently overcome with the thought of what their family had been through.

Susan on the other hand was reacting just as shyly to the situation as Neville and Harry. They could only hope that she hadn't grown up surrounded by the legend surrounding Harry, but knowing she was of course born into a pure-blood family, she would be very well familiar with the tale of the boy-who-lived.

Susan however actually surprised them. Although she was originally very cautious in approaching the two boys and seemed to be slightly awed at Harry's scar. She understood that he was actually just another 7 year-old-boy and would want to be treated like a kid.

And so the three friends spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying themselves in the back garden, riding bikes and playing with their water guns.

When it was finally time for the Bones to leave, both Harry and Neville felt that they might have just made their first friend in the wizarding world. After all Susan didn't give them any of the insecure feelings they got from everyone else they had been exposed to, and was generally nice to be around.

* * *

**I realize I'm jumping ahead pretty quickly here, but I want to get to Hogwarts, and didn't fancy wasting time writing about what two 5 year olds life would be like. Anyways, things will start to slow down in the next few chapters as Harry and Neville meet Hermione and start to learn about magic. **

**Hope you've enjoyed the story so far.**


	6. Mugggle School

By now Harry was 9 years old and had learned to fully control his emotions and by all extents and purpose could do so with his magic to the level of one of, if not the most powerful wizard in Britain.

But today Harry was scared. Something he had not dealt with since the prospect of going into the wizarding world over 2 years ago. Today he and Neville were supposed to start muggle primary school, a prospect that neither boy was too thrilled about since they were both deeply scarred by there brief visit to Diagon Alley.

They could only hope that they would be treated normally in the muggle world.

* * *

Both he and Neville were well aware of how to act around muggles considering they had spent most of their lives living disguised amongst them and even had the benefit of having Lily coach them through any situations they weren't comfortable with.

Growing up as a muggleborn witch Lily was more then up to the task of helping the two families adjust to life as muggles.

It hadn't been very difficult for her to teach Harry and Neville since both of them were being raised around muggles and didn't have the disadvantage that James, Alice and Frank had of trying to cope without things they had been raised with their whole life.

James and Frank had done admirably in their attempts to familiarize with as much muggle technology as possible, but it was easily apparent how much they missed the wizarding lifestyle.

The solution the parents had found was that although they continued to live amongst muggles, they had updated there home with both muggle and wizarding artifacts. While the added bonus of having things like a Floo-connection for their fireplace or magically enlarged rooms were huge benefits, and made weekly visits from their friends much easier it did have the disadvantage of preventing muggles from visiting. While James thought this was another added benefit, Lily saw the implication this would have for her children. As long as their home doubled as both a wizarding and a muggle one, none of the kids would be able to bring any friends over for a visit unless they knew about the magical world. The effect this had was that both Harry and Neville had grown up without spending any time with kids' their own age, apart from Susan Bones.

While there was nothing wrong with Susan, in fact Lily personally thought she was a lovely girl and she was ecstatic the boys had accepted her as a friend, she wasn't able to visit very often, as her Aunt was quite busy with her job at the Ministry.

With that sad thought Lily had ensured that she would do her best to help Harry and Neville become as comfortable as possible in their new environment, in the hope that they could make friends in the non-magical world.

She had meticulously schooled them on what they should expect to learn at a muggle school and had also spent her time coaching the boys to control their emotions so that they wouldn't perform any accidental magic.

Both James and the Longbottoms were beyond pleased at how well the boys seemed to understand not only the wizarding world but the muggle one as well, as it had become far too uncommon for such occurrences among magical children.

Because of this Harry and Neville had been raised on how to cope in both worlds. They were familiar with everything from table manners, to the conventions associated with the ancient pureblood houses, seeing as both boys were next in line for their Head of House.

Lily herself couldn't help but worry though that she hadn't done enough and that the two children would struggle to adjust to the outside world.

* * *

After waking up early to wash up and get dressed the two boys hurried downstairs to eat breakfast before heading off to school. To both boys discomfort their mother's fussed over their uniforms for nearly 10 minutes even embarrassing the boys by insisting on taking pictures of them before driving them to school.

By the time the group had reached the Kensington private school each were especially nervous at the thought of how people would react towards them. Neither was comfortable in such a public environment and tended to close up at even the thought of being around people they didn't know.

Summoning their courage, the boys said goodbye to their parents and walked into the school trying to locate the 4th grade classroom.

After already walking in on 4 different classes, none of which were the correct ones, a very shy Neville and Harry cautiously approached the closed door of Ms. MacKay's classroom, before knocking quietly.

A short woman who looked to be in about her thirty's with short brown hair and bright blue eyes greeted them, and ushered them into the room. The two boys tensed as they turned their attention off of their new teacher towards the 20 students who were staring at them strangely before Ms. MacKay introduced them as the two new students of the class and to make them feel welcome.

Spotting the only two empty seats in the class they both took their seats beside a shy girl sitting alone in the left corner of the front row.

She seemed initially surprised that anyone would choose to sit next to her but then reassured herself that these boys didn't have a choice as they were the only seats left. That theory however went out the window as the boy with messy black hair and bright green eyes and wire rimmed glasses leaned over to introduce himself.

"Hi my names Harry. Me and my brother, Neville are new around here and we were wondering if you could maybe show us around or something."

The bushy haired bucktooth girl could only stare at the boy and start to hyperventilate before she turned her attention back to front of the classroom where Ms. Mackay was starting the day's lesson.

Harry could only frown at her reaction but convinced himself that she couldn't have known his real identity since his mother had taken care to conceal his scar with make-up and he had not introduced himself using his last name. Besides this was a muggle primary school, what were the chances that the first person he met turned out to be a witch?

* * *

The rest of the day went by uneventfully for both Harry and Neville who refrained from speaking out the whole day and decided to spend their playtime wandering around the school trying to familiarize themselves with their new surroundings. Both boys couldn't help but notice though that the bushy haired girl also didn't say a word to anyone the whole day and kept her head down the entire time except for the numerous detailed answers she gave to the teacher's questions. Even more strange was the girl's actions whenever the bell rang. She practically sprinted out of the class as if the thought of staying with such a large group of students scared her more than it did to Harry or Neville.

Their family was quite happy to learn they had a quiet first day without any accidents but couldn't help but frown at the notion that both boys had refrained from speaking out. Neither set of parents were thrilled at the notion that their usually energetic and confident children behaved shy and nervous at school but played it off as nerves to being in a new place with new people for the first time.

They could only hope that things would improve for the two boys in the coming weeks and that maybe they would make a few new friends.

None of them knew that 3 blocks away the Grangers were having similar thoughts regarding there 9 year-old daughter who had once again hurried home to fuss over homework. Both Dan and Emma knew their daughter was very shy and preferred to spend her time with a good book then with children her own age, but nevertheless they still wished she could make a couple of friends this year. They didn't know that Hermione wasn't always so timid; she only had her insecurities instilled in her after the extensive bullying she received since she had started primary school 3 years ago.


	7. A new Friend

The next few weeks went by fairly uneventful at school for Harry and Neville. The two had been content to go along by themselves and just focus on working in class, where despite Lily's daily help each child was finding muggle subjects to be quite difficult, especially mathematics.

It hadn't escaped their notice that the shy bushy-haired girl always seemed to do the best in the class, but both boys were far too uncomfortable at the thought of asking her for help with some of their problems.

One day however the boys couldn't help but notice that the girl stopped raising her hand to answer questions. She still got gold stars for perfect marks on all her tests but no matter how much she looked like she wanted to, she wouldn't allow herself to answer questions unless she was specifically asked.

They couldn't help but feel this kind of behavior was very strange but after remembering what her reaction was when they had tried to introduce themselves, they figured she was probably just becoming more and more shy around people.

Harry couldn't figure out the answer to her strange behavior for the life of him. Was she a witch? Did she know who they were? Whatever the reason, the two boys found themselves fascinated with the lonely bushy-haired girl.

One day when it was finally time for the children to present their science projects on the solar system, Harry and Neville found out why the girl had been so scared of her classmates.

The girl had given a perfect presentation on the solar system, even constructing a scale model and a slide show to help with her demonstration. Despite the obvious work she had put into her presentation, she never once took her gaze off her shoes as she listed numerous random facts about the planets and their moons. Needless to say the work she had put into her presentation made the rest of the class's look rather weak in comparison.

When it was finally time for recess the girl was the last out of the classroom as she had hung back to try to carry the very large model over to her cubby. When she finally did get out to the playground she was immediately swarmed by a group of 5 boys.

"Why did you have to make us look bad you buck toothed freak?" said Dudley. He was easily the largest of the group, so Hermione knew he was the leader. Unfortunately, she was far more familiar with Dudley than she would have preferred. The boy had been in her class the past two years in a row, and had bullied her ever since she had started school. At first it was simply because she was an easy target, probably because she didn't have any friends that would stick up for her, but after Dudley learned of her intelligence the bullying had only intensified.

The girl just started shaking nervously as the boys continued to insult her before shoving her to the ground behind the school kitchens away from where any teachers would find them.

Thankfully a few of the students were playing at the edge of the forest by the school kitchens and had heard the commotion. However instead of doing anything most of them just kept on playing, too afraid that if they intervened they would suffer the same fate from Dudley and his gang.

Two children however who had heard the commotion and the crying of a girl, quickly hurried over to offer their help.

When they finally got there they were alarmed to see Dudley and his gang of 4 other followers towering over the bushy-haired girl who was lying on the ground trembling as two of the boys took turn kicking her in the ribs.

Harry immediately felt his anger getting away from his at the thought that these five would gang up on a poor defenceless girl.

Neville could only watch the outburst that came from his friend. He could feel the magic pouring off Harry in his anger before he released it sending 5 stunners at the boys before banishing them into the back fence of the playground.

Together they quickly hurried over to the girl's side and tried to help her to her feet. Not surprisingly she struggled to get up, as her jumper was torn and bloody. They suspected that she had likely suffered a couple of broken ribs from the bullies kicking.

Realizing that he had already broken the rules for performing underage magic in a muggle environment, Harry decided that if he was already going to get in trouble from the ministry, he might as well finish the job.

Neville, knowing what Harry was about to do tried to distract Hermione while Harry healed her injuries as best he could before transfiguring her torn and bloodied jumper into a new one.

Unfortunately, Hermione wasn't going to let anything distract her from watching what Harry was doing. When the boy sheepishly asked her to trust him, Hermione immediately conceded. Gingerly, he placed a hand over her ribs and to her amazement; Hermione saw a few gentle pulses of white light descend down his forearms and into her chest. She didn't know how to describe it, only that the sensation seemed to stop the pain that was coursing through her body. As if that wasn't enough, the boy then began to wave his hands over her torn jumper, repairing it. Hermione thought she must have been hallucinating. There was no way this was happening. As unlikely as it was that anyone had stuck up for her, Hermione was prepared to accept that as a minute possibility, but what she had witnessed this boy do was supposed to be impossible!

_Could it be that they could make strange things happen too?_

She had remembered the two boys from when she had been introduced to them back on the first day of school but to her shame she had let her shock that someone was treating her nicely miss her chance at actually getting to know the boy who had been so kind to her. Since then she had been too embarrassed to talk to the boy or his friend but she had been silently thinking about them for the better part of the past few weeks.

And now here they were helping her to her feet and trying to talk to her once again.

"Are you alright? We're sorry about what happened to you, Dudley and his gang really are just a bunch of bullies, if they keep bothering you let us know and we'll see to it that it won't happen again."

Hermione felt tears come to her eyes at the nice gesture she had never felt directed at her before, having gotten so used to being excluded and bullied her entire life both for her looks and her intelligence. She could only nod dumbly before giving the boy a small hug and giving him her thanks.

Harry couldn't help but ask for her name since she had never given it to him before.

When she looked down at the ground suddenly very interested in her feet, he began to wonder if he had done something wrong. Little did he know that she only did so to hide her blush as to have someone actually taking an interest to get to know her for the first time.

Her mumbled response of what sounded like Hermione, gave Harry and Neville the impression that she hadn't had many if any friends before, so deciding to change that they offered their friendship to the girl. After all they didn't have any friends at school either, and Hermione seemed nice.

Hermione was completely floored. Not only did these boys save her from the bullies and heal her injuries in the process, but now they were willing to be friends with her too. She felt her emotions overwhelm her once again and could only nod, as she wasn't in any position to trust her voice.

The thought however that being her friends would only get the boys into trouble with Dudley and his gang did get her speaking again, though. But when she voiced her concerns she was rather surprised when Neville just started laughing. It started out as a snicker but quickly graduated into a chuckle before the boy actually grabbed his stomach and fell over laughing. She was a little put out at the thought that this boy was laughing at her when she only had his best interests in mind. His next words however swept those thoughts aside and reassured her that everything would be all right and that maybe she could become good friends with the two boys.

"Hermione you have nothing to worry about anymore. Hell will freeze over before Harry lets those bullies harm you again and we promise we'll protect you from anyone that means you harm. You don't have to worry, trust me. I really don't feel like there's a person in the world that could hurt us as long as we're with Harry."

These words warmed her heart more than anything she had ever heard before. She was a little skeptical that what he said was true but she desperately hoped at least part of it could be. When she looked over at the first boy though, she couldn't catch the look of embarrassment on his face as he just stood there looking at his shoes. Neville could only grin at his friend's obvious discomfort whenever someone complimented him, as it had become rather common for the two to exchange good-natured teasing. No doubt an influence of having Sirius in the house so often as their mothers had kindly pointed out.

"How did you do that anyway?" asked Hermione, before quickly adding, "Sorry, I don't mean to pry, I'm just curious."

Neville and Harry just exchanged a regretful look.

"I'm sorry, but we can't talk about it," said Neville, looking sincerely ashamed at the look of hurt that he had caused to surface on Hermione's face.

"Please don't tell anyone about it," said Harry, "it would draw a lot of unwanted attention to us. I'm not even supposed to do what I did."

Hermione just gave them a sad smile. Although it would likely drive her insane not knowing what had happened, she owed it to these two not to mention it. Hell, if it meant that she would finally have friends she was prepared to go the rest of her life not knowing. Besides, she was more than a little uncomfortable when those same strange things happened to her, so it was perfectly understandable that they weren't comfortable talking about it either.

Pushing the incident from her mind, she immediately decided right then and there that she would do her best to make it up to the boys who whether they realized it or not had just treated her better than anyone excluding her parents ever had. From then on she was determined to prove her loyalty to her new friends Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom.

* * *

To Harry's utter amazement, the letter from the Ministry never came. He had expected to receive some kind of warning from the Underage Use of Magic Department, but three days later and still no response.

He hadn't told the parents about the incident yet, as he wasn't sure how they would respond to hearing that he had been performing magic so carelessly in a muggle environment.

Even Neville had promised not to tell the parents if he preferred to keep the event a secret between them, and Harry was only too happy to do so.

Maybe when the time was right he'd tell them, but for now, until he got caught, he'd prefer to keep it to himself.

Besides, if he could use magic on the playground to protect himself and his friends why shouldn't he?

* * *

The three friends were practically inseparable during the weeks since their friendship first began. Each child took benefits from their new found friendship, and the parents couldn't be happier with this new development.

All three kids had quickly become comfortable around each other and it showed in the way they interacted. Around everyone else at school all three kids were cautious and reserved but around each other they could act like themselves.

Hermione for her part loved her new friends. She had never had any friends before and now she had two boys who would protect her from the school bullies and wouldn't make fun of her for her intelligence or her looks. They even shared her interest in books! She had never been happier and her parents couldn't wait to meet the two boys who had brought about such a change in their usually reserved daughter.

Neville and Harry also loved having Hermione as a friend as she allowed them to act like normal children without the uncomfortable persona built up around them in the wizarding world. She even helped them in school but managed to treat them with a level of respect that made them understand that she didn't look down on their intelligence but was just trying to help them.

Both boys parents had been extremely keen to meet their child's new friend but unfortunately they had their hopes put out when Dumbledore had informed them that the wards surrounding there home had made it impossible for muggles to enter since you had to know about magic to be able to receive the secret from the secret keeper in order to enter the home.

The Longbottoms and Potters had been hopeful they would be able to meet the girl at school or in some other public venue but it wouldn't be the same as spending an afternoon getting to know the child or her parents who had such an effect on their boys.

The Grangers however had no such problem and were almost desperate to meet Hermione's new friends.

And so one Friday afternoon after yet another enjoyable day at school where the three kids had managed to evade Dudley and his gang while spending recess on the playground, the three friends found themselves walking towards Hermione's home.

"I hope you guys like it, I've never brought friends home before, in fact my parents are very excited to meet you," said a slightly flustered Hermione. The thought of having her friends meet her parents was a little embarrassing but she had long since realized that neither Harry or Neville were ones to make fun of her and they weren't about to leave her either. Even now thinking about her friends brought a smile to her face as she thought about them.

"I'm sure they'll be very nice, we've never actually been over to another person's house before, so we don't really know what to expect…" said Harry as he trailed off looking down at his shoes.

Hermione couldn't help but frown at this. She knew neither of them really had friends before each other but how could they not have visited another family's house before?

From the looks of panic and fear that crossed their faces she understood that this was something they weren't comfortable talking about but she couldn't help but wonder what could have caused her friends to become so uncomfortable whenever someone mentioned there home-life.

Pushing those thoughts from her mind Hermione led her friends up the driveway before opening the front door and leading them into her home.

Hermione promptly yelled up the stairs to get her parents attention "MUUUUUM! DAAAAAD! WE'RE HOME!"

Harry and Neville couldn't help but snicker at their friend's antics. After all they knew she didn't like to wait around for anything and usually liked to do things according to a set time frame, but that was just another thing that made her Hermione. They didn't see this or any of her other quirks as a bad thing as more often than not she had used them to help them, whether it be for homework or getting to class on time.

All three kids became aware of Hermione's parents presence entering the room as they listened to the footsteps clambering down the hall. As the two adults made their way down the stairs Harry and Neville got a first look at Hermione's parents. Her dad was a very intimidating man; easily over six feet tall with short curly brown hair but seemed to be very friendly and had Hermione's gentle chocolate eyes. Her mother on the other hand was a fairly small woman but could be immediately recognized for her relation to Hermione as the two women looked almost identical, each with a head of long brown hair, although Hermione's was rather bushy where as her mother's was curly.

The parents couldn't help but smile at the nervous faces of the two boys Hermione had told them so much about.

"Hello Hermione how was your day? Can I take it these lovely gentlemen with you are your friends Neville and Harry?"

At Hermione's nod Emma wasted no time introducing herself to the flustered boys.

"It's great to finally meet you two, my name is Emma and this is my husband Dan."

The group exchanged friendly handshakes before heading to the living room to get to know each other better.

Neville and Harry learned that the Grangers owned their own dental practice and the Grangers learned a little about their daughter's friends and what their parents do for a living.

Of course they couldn't tell the whole truth about what they really did, so they just simply said both their dads were policeman in the anti-terrorist unit, Harry's mom was a nurse and Neville's mom worked for the government.

If the Grangers had any questions regarding them they didn't voice them and instead were content to watch the trio of friends relax into friendly banter with each other.

Neither would have understood the importance this friendship would become between the three and how much drama would surround the three friends, but as they would come to learn, life was full of surprises.


	8. Discovering the Truth

During the next few months, more than once Harry noticed accidental magic being performed when the trio of friends were together. Considering both Neville and himself were wizards this should have been expected, so Harry was always quick to cover up with some makeshift story for his friend, whom he knew was just reaching the stage where his magic started acting up.

He had never paid much attention to the looks of fear, uneasiness or nervousness that had crossed Hermione's face when this happened or the relief when he provided some cover story. He had just assumed that she couldn't understand what had happened and was simply relieved to have a logical explanation as to what she had witnessed.

However that outlook all changed one afternoon when Harry and Hermione were quietly walking home from school by themselves since Neville had been sick that day with a nasty case of dragon pox. It had become the usual routine of the two boys to walk Hermione home from school since her house was on their way home and this way they could be around to protect her if needed from bullies, as it was the one time of day she would otherwise be vulnerable to Dudley and his gang if they came looking for trouble.

As both children were caught up in their thoughts of what they could do this weekend, neither noticed when Hermione brushed up against a thorny bush at the side of the walkway until they heard a loud rip.

Hurriedly Hermione turned around only to see that most of her schoolbooks were now laying in a puddle on the ground and her new backpack had been ripped.

Not knowing what to do to fix her prized possessions, Hermione couldn't help herself as she started to cry before frantically trying to collect the soaked books in hope that she could somehow dry them.

Harry could only stare wide-eyed as his friend performed accidental magic right in front of him. _Hermione must be a witch_, Harry thought to himself.

However any further thoughts on his part were broken as Hermione let out a shrilling shriek after realizing that she had just made another strange thing happen, and right in front of her friend too.

She had been trying her best to control these weird things that always seemed to happen to her whenever she became emotional, especially whenever she was around her friends as she was extremely worried that they would think she was weird.

Too lost to come up with an excuse, after never being very good at lying, Hermione couldn't think of anything else to do other then run away and pretend like nothing had happened the next day.

Before she could get very far though, Harry grabbed her right arm, and whispered to her, "Hermione can you do that again?"

"Do what Harry? I didn't do anything."

Harry could only nod his head, "Yes you did Hermione I saw you. There's nothing to be afraid of, there's nothing wrong with you, I can explain everything if you can just do that again for me."

Hermione stared down at her feet rather uncomfortably and mumbled a reply.

"I… I can't." Harry just frowned but couldn't say anything before she continued.

"It doesn't work that way, I can't do it when I want to, these things just happen."

Harry just smiled at his friend and calmly replied, "maybe not yet but you will be able to, you just have to learn how."

Hermione eagerly perked up at the mentioning of learning something new, especially the thought of how to control the weird things that always seemed to happen to her.

"Hermione what I'm about to tell you will come as a shock to you, but I can prove it." At her nod he slowly continued.

"Hermione, don't take this the wrong way, it's not a bad thing… You're a witch Hermione. It's not a bad thing, believe me, it just means that you can perform magic."

Hermione could only stare at her best friend completely lost at this new revelation, so Harry just decided to continue.

"Neville and I are wizards Hermione, we can perform magic too, and so can are parents. That's how I healed your injuries that day on the playground after scaring away the bullies, I can do magic too."

Unable to form much of a response to the explanation Harry was giving her, Hermione could only ask, "How?"

Harry couldn't help but grin at his knowledgeable friend's obvious disbelief of learning about something that disproved her entire way of thinking that she valued so strongly.

"I'll prove it - just not here. Let's go get your parents first, and then I'll take your family over to meet Neville's and mine.

And so the two kids continued their walk home, frequently stopping as Hermione couldn't help but assault her friend with the numerous questions that were flooding her mind. His constant response of 'not now' did nothing to appease her and if anything, only served to make her more and more frantic.

When her parents finally got home later that day, they too were shocked to hear Harry's explanation of the weird things Hermione seemed to make happen. When he went on to explain that both he, Neville and their families were also magical, the Grangers seemed a little put out that the two boys had lied to them, but Harry assured them that the Statue of Secrecy had made it impossible for them to tell Dan and Emma the truth.

They did perk up at the opportunity to visit the two boy's home, and Harry assured them that they would receive more than sufficient evidence to prove that magic was real.

When Dan made a motion to grab his car keys though, he was interrupted when Harry mentioned that he didn't know how to get there by car.

"But if you don't know the way, how do you get home?" questioned Mrs. Granger.

Harry just grinned at her. "I usually apparated me and Neville to and from school, since one of the protections surrounding our home makes it impossible to reach it by muggle means of transportation."

The three Grangers just frowned at this, as this statement only seemed to give each of them more questions than answers.

"What's apparition? How does it work?" asked Hermione eagerly.

"What's a muggle?" asked Mr. Granger, looking utterly confused.

"Why do you need protection around your home?" frowned Mrs. Granger.

Harry just smiled at his friend's family's necessity to understand every situation, but assured them he would answer any and all of their questions once they got to his place.

When he had convinced the Grangers of this Harry decided it would be best to first show them what apparition was before he asked which one of them would want to go first.

All three Grangers were nearly knocked off their feet when Harry seemed to disappear into thin air with a small 'pop' only to re-appear in the kitchen a moment later.

After ensuring them that it was perfectly safe and they'd only feel a slight bit of discomfort Harry asked them if they were ready to make the trip.

Dan, being the protective father he was and unwilling to let either his wife or daughter try something potentially threatening, decided it would be best if he went first.

Harry just smiled up at the large man he had grown to respect and reassured Hermione and Emma that it was perfectly safe and that he would return for each of them momentarily.

After bringing Dan to what seemed like a regular neighborhood, Harry once again popped away to retrieve Emma and then Hermione before telling the Grangers he would be right back, he just had to go explain the situation to his mother.

After nervously waiting on the side of the road for a few minutes the Grangers were interrupted from their silence as Harry re-appeared with a red-haired woman with dazzling green-eyes that could only mean she was Harry's mom.

After Harry introduced his mother to his guests and the Grangers to his mother, Lily had the three read off a piece of Parchment that simply read, _Potter-Longbottom Manor_ _is located at 34 Cherokee Road._

Before the Grangers could blink suddenly the neighborhood around them began to distort as houses melted away only to be replaced with the scenery of a large house situated at the top of a hill surrounded by a forest on one side and a brook on the other.

"Welcome to our home," said Harry, grinning like a mad man at his friends shell-shocked reaction.

The three Grangers couldn't believe their eyes as they just followed Harry and his mother up the cobblestone walkway to the entrance of the small mansion that lay ahead of them.

The house looked like something straight out of a magazine. It was 5 stories' tall and had large marble pillars supporting the second floor veranda. Inside a large wooden staircase with red carpet and gold trim led up to the floors above while two large hallways led off to either side of the entrance. Walking past the staircase the three Grangers were led into what must have been the sitting room where they noticed five other figures discussing amongst themselves on the large red plush couches that surrounded the enormous fireplace.

* * *

James, Frank, Sirius, Remus and Professor McGonagall were quietly discussing amongst themselves on various subjects such as Quidditch, Hogwarts news, Neville's current state of health and any new magic the boys had recently performed when they were broken from their musings by Lily who promptly introduced them to the three figures who were standing in-between Lily and Harry.

It took a moment of recognition before James and Frank realized this was the Granger family that their sons had talked so much about, but before either of them could voice their question as to how Harry and Lily had brought his muggle friends family into their home, realization hit home. They both jumped up and exclaimed, "I don't believe it Hermione must be magical, Harry why didn't you tell us sooner?"

Harry could just grin at the parent's antics and reply, "I didn't know I just found out today; whenever one of us three performed accidental magic I always just assumed it was Neville and would make a quick cover up story. When I saw Hermione perform a drying spell on a few of her textbooks after they fell in a puddle, it suddenly clicked home that she too was magical."

Dan and Emma just stared from their daughter to Harry repeatedly before Emma voiced her thoughts.

"So… uh… If… Magic… is real… could you show us some… Just to reassure us is all."

Lily just smiled at the older woman she was hoping she would get the opportunity to get to know a lot better. "I know this comes as a bit of a shock to you, my parents reacted the same way when they found out I was magical after never having a witch in the family before, but I assure you there's nothing wrong with your daughter. From what I've heard from Harry and Neville she seems like a delightful young lady that I'd love to have the pleasure to get to know a little bit better."

Dan and Emma smiled at this, seeing as how Lily had both shown them that their disbelieving reaction was to be expected, that she had gone through the same situation they were struggling with, and having complimented their daughter.

"Thanks Lily, it's really great to finally meet you and the rest of the boy's family. We're just a little shook up about the situation but we're hoping that after you give us some time to come to terms with it we could settle down and get to know each other? We really would love to get to know Hermione's best friends family, your boys have had an extraordinary effect on her," said Emma.

"Oh yes, we'd love that. But I must say, Hermione has had a similar effect on Harry and Neville. The two are usually quite shy around people they don't know and Hermione seems to have helped them come out of their shell."

Dan just smiled as he thought this was the exact result they noticed the two boys had on his daughter.

After exchanging pleasantries and arranging tea and cookies for their guests, Hermione decided she couldn't hold in her anticipation any longer.

"Um Harry could you show me some more magic, if it's not too much trouble, I just really want to see what else we can do with it, all I've done so far is repair a few of my books when they're damaged and called them to me when they were out of reach."

"Sure Hermione no problem, anything specific you'd had in mind or should I just go for it?"

When Hermione couldn't decide on anything in particular she wanted to see, she decided to let Harry show her any magic he could do.

To say she was stunned was an understatement.

When she gave Harry a nod, the boy just smiled at her, turned around and with a wave of his left hand, turned the empty couch behind him into a fully-grown grizzly bear. He then levitated it above his head, before pulling out a wooden stick from his pocket and muttering something in Latin. Seeing the bear burst into sparks was something she would never forget. He even managed to rearrange the sparks to write a note written in fire – _If you get your parents' permission I'd be happy to show you more. Magic is great you can do almost anything with it; you just have to learn how to control it first._

With another wave of the stick an empty goblet appeared in his left hand before the written flames turned into water and fell into his open glass. Smiling at the looks of amazement, Harry preceded to turn the liquid into various different colours, before throwing it onto one of the grinning adults, making his head turn purple and grow three times as large. The Grangers were shocked but the only reaction this got out of the others were for the three men to fall out of their seats clutching their stomachs howling with laughter while Lily and the stern looking woman fought to restrain their smiles.

"Padfoot you old dog, you're looking a little under the weather," was all James could manage to say in-between his fits of laughter.

The man known as Sirius who was apparently Harry's godfather just smiled at James and promptly head-butted the man, causing him to lose his breath once again but for an entirely different reason.

However they didn't get much further than that before Lily broke it up, "James, Sirius I swear if you don't behave yourselves in front of our guests I'll set Harry on you again, mark my words."

The Grangers were a little confused about this threat but noticed that the two men in question quickly composed themselves after hearing this, and the others in the room just started smiling at their antics.

However it didn't get very long before Hermione had to have another one of her questions answered.

"Harry how do you have so much control over your magic? Is that why Neville said there probably isn't anyone in the world that could hurt us as long as you're around?"

She couldn't help but notice the reaction this question immediately had on the others in the room. Her parents seemed a little worried but smiled at thought that this boy used his apparent powers to protect their daughter, but it was the reaction of the others that really got her attention. Lily, James, and Frank seemed to look at each other dejectedly while Remus and Sirius both eyed each other with such saddening expressions that Hermione immediately knew her question broached a rather uncomfortable subject for the group. McGonagall seemed to be the only one of the group who was not lost in sorrow as she quietly spoke up.

"It's rather difficult to explain, and a rather uncomfortable subject, but ever since Harry was born he… he could do stuff other wizards couldn't."

When no one else in the room spoke up but Lily gave Harry's hand a tight squeeze before a dejected James gave McGonagall a short nod, the Grangers knew they were about to be told a rather uncomfortable tale.

* * *

The story of the wizarding war, the roles each of them had played, the attack on both families, the Dark Lord's demise at baby Harry's hand and his miraculous revival of both his parents but also Neville's had taken roughly 4 hours to explain. Lily had quietly told them that they were living in hiding as a result as they didn't want Harry growing up with the fame that currently surrounded him in the wizarding world.

The Grangers didn't really know what to make of all this. The proof was right in front of them, but to realize all that these people had been through over the years was a rather unpleasantly sobering thought. And so after an awkward silence that lasted quite a while after McGonagall had finished telling the Grangers their story, James offered the Grangers two of the guest rooms before excusing himself off to bed.

Dan and Emma didn't know what to say. They didn't want to intrude on their daughters friends, but they didn't even know how to get home, so what choice did they have?

Following Lily up the stairs, they watched as the lady who called herself Professor McGonagall disappeared into the fireplace (that was a rather strange sight to witness), while Remus and Sirius dragged themselves up the stairs behind them. It certainly didn't look like anyone would be getting a good nights sleep.

* * *

When Hermione awoke the next morning she was a little nervous at the thought of what awaited her downstairs, as she still wasn't used to the thought of being in a wizarding home, even if this one doubled as a muggle home as well. When you combine that with the fact that she had only been introduced to Harry and Neville's family yesterday before a rather uncomfortable tale, she was understandably nervous to leave her room. A knock at her door however woke her from her thoughts.

When she opened the door she was a little surprised to see it was Harry standing there shaking side to side uneasily.

"Can I… Can I talk to you before we go downstairs?"

"Sure Harry, what's wrong?"

"I just wanted to know if we were still friends. You know after the legend of the boy-who-lived and all, I haven't really had many friends and I was just hoping that you could still treat me as your friend Harry. I… I'm not really comfortable with all the fame surrounding me. It just makes me feel abnormal you know? I just want to be treated the same as any regular boy and that's what makes your friendship so special because that's how you've always treated me. Everyone else that grew up with magical parents sees me as another Merlin or something. I'm like a legend to them. I don't want that. I just want to be a kid."

"Harry I would never do that. Other people might see you as the boy-who-lived but the way I see it you're still my best friend Harry. You might be able to do things most people can't, but that doesn't mean you're not normal. You taught me that yesterday. It doesn't matter to me that you're the boy-who-lived you're still my best friend Harry, the nice boy who makes me feel comfortable with who I am, even when everyone else makes me feel otherwise. Harry I never told you, but that night after we became friends at school. I cried myself to sleep because I finally had friends. Harry your friendship means everything to me and I'd never throw that away."

Harry just smiled at his friend and gave her a small hug, before whispering into her bushy mane of hair, "Thanks, and I feel the same way about you."

Hermione just smiled into her friend's shoulder. Before a wicked grin crossed her face.

"You think you could teach me some of that magic you can do though?"

Harry just smiled at his friend before he simply replied, "I'd like that. After all I'm already doing the same for Neville and the rest of my family. And I'm sure the adults would be happy to show you the same things they're teaching me and Neville."

This of course did nothing but make Hermione's smile grow even bigger at the thought of learning magic with her best friends.


	9. Lessons

**Still don't own Harry Potter. Everything belongs to JKR.**

**Here's the next update, hope you like the story so far. I realize I might be making Harry's strength a little far-fetched but that's just the way I wanted to write it. If the prophecy means that only Harry can destroy Voldemort and vice-versa then I want to establish right from the beginning that the two of them will be in a league of their own.**

**Dumbledore and the parents are still far more skilled in the use of magic, but Harry and Voldemort will have no equal when it comes down to raw magical power.**

**I mean, Rowling did describe it as the Dark side winning the war before Harry came along. It's one of the reasons people in my story are so obsessed with the boy-who-lived. As a result, you can expect a close bond between the children that I've already described as they're the only ones that don't see Harry, as the Harry Potter of legend.**

**Just thought I'd clarify that a little better. Send me a review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

Over the next few days the large group of the Grangers, Longbottoms, Potters and Marauders were in constant presence of each other as everyone was only too eager to get to know each other.

The Grangers were originally overwhelmed at everything their new friends had to tell them but after several discussions with them, Dan and Emma had both taken a quick liking to the Potters and Longbottoms. They even took a liking to the Marauders, as Emma liked Remus's quiet, studious, responsible personality while Dan liked Sirius for his good-natured humor.

They had spent several of their afternoons and evenings together in the Potter-Longbottom Manor and had gotten along splendidly with the families of their daughters friends. Both Dan and Emma had to admit that now that they knew nothing was wrong with their daughter and that she was simply a witch they were both relieved to learn that her friends and their family were also magical and could help them to cope and understand the magical world. They couldn't imagine how much more difficult it would be if they had been forced to watch Hermione grow up in a world they knew nothing about.

They were amazed with everything magic could do. After watching Alice transfigure a few stones from the garden into a tea set, and Lily place a warming charm on the patio, the Grangers were beginning to wonder how they ever lived without it. Seeing James use magic to clean the house was a whole different story. Emma couldn't wait until Hermione could do that. The dishes washed themselves, the clothes flew into the laundry hamper, and the vacuum ran all by itself! If that wasn't enough, apparently there was a whole secret society of wizards and witches living amongst them.

What really shocked them though was how little most wizards knew about muggle society. Apart from the children (they had been raised in both muggle and magical customs) Lily was probably the only one that could pull it off. Sirius still hadn't learned how to use a light switch properly, as he always unconsciously cast a lumos charm whenever he walked into a darkened room. Apparently he had been raised in a strictly magical household, and had never even seen some of the muggle appliances they took for granted. The others weren't much better. James would flinch whenever someone turned on the stereo, and Frank was uncomfortable whenever someone turned on the microwave. It's as if they expected the thing to blow up or something. Remus and Alice were probably the best, as they at least knew how to work the TV remote.

As an attempt to try and counter balance everything they taught them about magic, Dan and Emma took it upon themselves to better explain to them what it was like to live as a muggle.

They started slow at first, going over the basics, explaining the simple things they did in their everyday lives, like getting to and from work or cooking a meal in the kitchen. Lily proved invaluable at this, as she was able to clarify on the subject by providing examples of the alternate methods wizards used for each of these things.

Sirius still didn't really understand the concept of electricity, but at least Lily's explanation of how the microwave worked like a warming charm soothed Frank's fear of the device. James still seemed stumped on the concept that muggles had healers that were entirely devoted to their patient's mouths.

Even Hermione joined in on the action, happily explaining to Harry, Neville, and their little brothers and sisters how the muggle bus system worked.

It was all new to the kids, as Lily's lessons had focused solely on how to act like a muggle, and become accustomed to their everyday machines. While they may be masters at using muggle technology, they didn't even know about the subway system.

In turn, the parents were finally able to tell the Grangers what they new friends did for professions. McGonagall was one of the teachers at Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry that the children were expected to attend after they turned eleven. Frank and Alice were both Aurors, which they explained was the equivalent of working for the muggle police force in the magical world. They had learned that James had also served as an Auror and that Lily had worked for both the Ministry of Magic as a researcher on Charms, and a healer at St. Mungo's magical hospital. Unfortunately both of them still weren't able to return to the magical world without being heckled by the fame that surrounds their family. As a result Lily served as the nanny for the six kids and helped Harry and Neville with any homework they had, as she was the only muggle-born out of the group. James was only too happy to talk about the shop he owned along with his friends Remus and Sirius, which produced everything from pranking memorabilia to magical communication mirrors.

Hermione was fascinated to learn of the many new opportunities the magical world presented to her that she had never heard of before, and couldn't wait to start learning magic. She had a whole new world in front of her to discover!

* * *

When they began studying two weeks later, both Neville and Hermione soon learned however, that magic was not as easy as it looked. Both had struggled with the simplest of charms outlined in books, and weren't too happy with the parents explanation that they'd find it easier when they were older, as it would allow their magical core more time to grow. Never ones to accept being told that they couldn't do something; the two took to spending several weeks practicing spells with Harry so they could learn how to feel and manipulate their magical core.

Although he had never had the same problems that both Hermione and Neville were experiencing, Harry proved to be quite the adept teacher.

He would explain to them things that he did whenever he wanted to perform a spell, and took the time to explain that magic wasn't all about the correct pronunciation or wand movement. What was really important was the emotion behind it. You had to want to perform the spell. The stronger the emotion, the more likely you would be able to cast the spell properly.

Hermione and Neville were excellent students, working extra hard and taking care to listen to any tips he might have for them.

It had been difficult for both of them at first, but eventually they were able to feel and even manipulate their magical core to the point that they could make small objects levitate at will if they focused hard enough.

Both of them were extremely excited at their progress and Harry assured them that if they continued this process it would make performing spells even easier.

* * *

After 3 more months both Neville and Hermione were finally ready to start having lessons with the adults. It had been agreed that James would teach Transfiguration and History, Sirius and Remus would teach Defense, Frank and Alice would tutor them in Herbology, while Lily would teach Charms and Potions.

The parents who each excelled in the field they taught proved to be excellent teachers, each coaching the children through any problems they were having and managing to shift the pace of their lessons between the three.

All three children loved learning and thoroughly dedicated themselves to achieving as much as they could in their lessons. Surprisingly each of them was good at different things, and Neville and Hermione even managed to excel over Harry at a few things. While Harry was unmatched by even the parents when it came to actually performing magic as his spells were always the most powerful, Hermione had proved that she was consistently the first to grasp the theory of any spell or potion. Neville on the other hand, was a natural at Herbology and even had to help out his friends on occasion as this subject proved to be rather tricky for both of them.

Even the younger kids would get in on the action, as all four children loved to watch the three of them learn magic. Sarah would eagerly sit beside Hermione during this time, as she preferred to read over the older girl's shoulder. Both girls had developed a close bond as Hermione had adopted the role of older sister to the young girl and was only too keen to share the knowledge of what she was learning. Matthew, Clarissa and Joshua were no different as they too refused to sit at the back of the class and listen silently. It didn't matter that neither of the four could perform magic yet, they just wanted to be with their older brothers and sister and see what it was they were learning.

The highlight of it all though, was when the Marauders would practice dueling with Harry.

None of the adults would fire off anything stronger than a tickling jinx, a leg locker or a cheering charm, but because it was three against one, Harry had a hard time fighting them off.

He found that he was pretty good at dodging spells if he had to, as he was very quick and agile, but his real strength was in his shield.

If he concentrated hard enough, he could form a shield that was strong enough that it simply absorbed anything the parents threw at him. He was rather chuffed with that ability.

His only problem was offensive spells. He might be able to cast spells wandlessly and silently, but all three of the Marauders were able to read his mind using Legilimency, meaning they knew when an attack was coming. As he really didn't know any curses other than _petrificus totalus_ or _incarcerus,_ the adults could easily block the attacks.

As a result, Harry had to resort to other tactics to win the fight. His favorite was banishing objects into his opponents, but transfiguring animals to attack was a close second. He even had the distinct advantage of being able to speak to snakes with his Parseltongue ability, making them the perfect weapon, as only he could control them. If that failed he could always use his elemental abilities to break apart the ground underneath his opponents, or send fireballs at them.

The Marauders however didn't have their reputation for nothing. They always had a few tricks up their sleeves and would often get the best of Harry until he learned how to fight more effectively.

There were a few duels where Harry won (much to the delight of the spectators) but most often the result was that Harry was backed up into a corner, making him an easy target for one of the adults to take him out.

Still Harry didn't mind, it was after all just a learning experience. If he really wanted to prepare himself for a fight, he knew he was going to have to learn more spells. Being able to perform magic was one thing, but if he didn't know what he wanted his magic to do, he might as well just accept defeat.

The best part was that he wasn't the only one learning from these duels. Lily always made sure to describe to the other children why the Marauders used whatever spells they did to block Harry's attacks. She put just as much emphasis however, on observing how they worked together as a team to back each other up and take out their opponent. The other kids listened eagerly; as they knew her advice would only serve to their benefit later on when they were ready to participate in a duel themselves.

Besides, who were the parents to stop them? They'd be learning this stuff in a few years anyway; why not let them sit in on a few harmless lessons? If anything they were simply preparing them for confrontations they'd inevitably have to face. As far as they were concerned, everyone should get this opportunity. It certainly would have helped them if they had learned a bit of magic before they started Hogwarts.

* * *

The lessons themselves were such a success, that each of the parents agreed they could take on additional members and not have it cut into their other duties. They had considered, extending the invitation to a larger number of students, perhaps even the entire incoming class of muggleborn students, but McGonagall had advised against it – she didn't want them taking away her job. In the end, it was agreed on that they would offer the invitation to the one other child that Harry and Neville were comfortable being around.

Amelia had been hesitant at first to give permission for her niece to attend, but she knew that this was an opportunity she wouldn't be able to give her, as her work kept her busy throughout the day. She often felt guilty about not spending enough time with little Susan, but the girl never seemed to mind. Even when she was working on important cases at home, Susan would bring a book from the library and just sit and read with her. She wasn't distracting or anything, she just wanted to be in her company. The older woman realized it must be torturous for a little girl to be locked up in a house all day with no one to play with. The only ones that were there during the day were the house elves, and Susan had complained that it was rather difficult getting them to put down their work down long enough so that they could play with her. Amelia would have loved to take her to visit with her friends more often but she didn't want them to think that she was imposing.

These lessons would be the perfect opportunity.

Both the Potters and Longbottoms were more than capable to tutor a few children and she knew her niece would be ecstatic for the opportunity to both start learning magic and see her friends again.

When Susan was informed of the opportunity it didn't take long for her to jump at the offer and Alice and Amelia were soon making plans on when it would be best for them to start.

Amelia was a little surprised to learn that it would be recommended for Susan to have a few lessons with Harry before she started, but after learning the effect he had on both Neville and their new friend Hermione, as well as even teaching the parents a few new things, she had gladly accepted the advice.

And so the next week both Amelia and Susan had Floo'd to Potter-Longbottom Manor to begin Susan's magical lessons.

* * *

Neville was the first to recognize Susan as she fell out of the fireplace and quickly ran up to give her a hand and a hug.

"Susan! It's so great to see you; it's been what a month? You have to come over more often."

"Neville! It's great to see you too. And don't worry I will be, you're mom asked my aunt if I'd be interested in taking lessons with you guys so now I'll be coming over almost every day! Isn't that great?"

"Really? That's awesome! Come on the others are just down the hall, they'll be so glad to see you."

And with that Neville led Susan down the hall while Amelia went to join Alice and Frank in the living room.

Unsurprisingly they found Harry and Hermione waiting for them in the Library.

"Harry!" Susan shrieked as she ran to give her other friend a hug. She still felt a little flushed whenever she thought about how she was friends with Harry Potter, after hearing the legends surrounding him so much from everyone else in the wizarding world. It was a weird feeling, but whenever she hung out with Harry and Neville they acted like any child their age would. It was almost as if Harry Potter, wasn't the same Harry Potter of legend, but that could be the press's fault for turning him into some sort of deity.

Harry was a little surprised to here a girl calling his name given that it didn't sound anything like his mother or Alice's voice and that Hermione was reading on a couch across the room. When he turned around he was happy to see who it was though as he engulfed Susan in a hug.

"Susan what are you doing here? I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever see you again!"

Susan just laughed at her friend's sense of humor. "It's great to see you too Harry, and I'm here to take lessons with you, in fact I was hoping you could give me some private lessons, since Neville tells me they've done wonders for him."

Harry just blushed at the compliment from his friend before a small cough brought him back to attention.

"Oh Susan I'd like you to meet our new-friend Hermione. She's a muggleborn like my mum. We became friends in school but after learning that she was magical our families quickly became good friends and now she's taking lessons with us too. Hermione meet Susan Bones, her family is good friends with our families so we met a few years ago, and she's really been our only magical friend until we learned that you were magical too."

Both girls just smiled at each other before giving each other a shy handshake.

Hermione didn't really know what to expect from Susan, she had never been able to make friends with any girls her own age before as most just tended to make fun of her hair or her intelligence, but she knew that if she was Harry's and Neville's friend then she must be nice. She was a little put out at having another girl in their group, especially one as pretty as Susan. She had secretly liked the thought that she was the princess of the group, and Harry and Neville were her knights in shining armor, but she also decided that it would be nice to have a girl for a friend who she could talk to.

Her worries were for nothing though as Susan proved to be a delightful character that seemed just as enthusiastic as the others at the thought of learning magic.

With that Harry and Susan went over to one corner to practice feeling their magical cores, while Neville and Hermione went to find Lily for their beginners Charms lesson.

* * *

Over the next few months, the four kids spent most of their time together as they continued their lessons. Hermione, Neville and Susan had all learned how to transfigure a match into a needle in Transfiguration, brew simple potions, cast levitation and banishing charms and even the basic shield charm.

The parents were thrilled with the development of all 4 children and promised that if they kept up their hard work they would undoubtedly be at the top of their class when they attended Hogwarts.

Susan and Hermione had also grown closer to each other over the months as the two feminine members of the mini marauders both shared a love of reading and learning, as well as an equal fear of flying. (James, Frank and Sirius had tried to teach the children how to fly but the only result was learning that Neville, Susan and Hermione were helpless and that Harry could fly circles around all of them.)

The parents often joked that the two girls were like long lost sisters, and although they were good friends, they both felt just as close to Harry and Neville as they did with each other, after all it had been Harry and Neville that had brought them together in the first place. Either way both girls were just glad to have such great friends.

* * *

Back at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore was enjoying yet another quiet afternoon sitting in his office, wondering about any new developments surrounding what would no doubt be his most important student.

He hadn't gone to visit Harry Potter in a while, (at least not since his last practice duel with the child) but he had taken the liberty of meeting the boy's parents every so often to see if anything unnerving had occurred surrounding the boy.

He had been beyond pleased with Harry's upbringing, and was beginning to think that the boy would one day be a great leader of the light, when the time finally came for him to step down.

After all, his greatest fear would be Harry Potter becoming the next Dark Lord. Thankfully the chance to be raised by a caring and loving family seemed to ensure otherwise.

Once again, Dumbledore thanked the heavens that Voldemort had chosen to use another curse instead of the killing curse on Lily and James. If not the only other blood relatives Harry had was a muggle couple, and if Lily's word held even an ounce of truth, he was sure that they would mistreat the lad.

He could only shudder at the thought of what the boy would have turned out like, if that was the case. He was well aware of Tom Riddle's upbringing and how the boy turned out, and was determined to ensure that Harry had a childhood as far away from that as possible. Besides, a Harry Potter that was confident in his abilities and not afraid to stand up for what he believed in, yet still possessed the humility and caring nature of his mother, would do wonders to the wizarding world.

He had heard from McGonagall of the lessons the parents had been giving Harry and his friends, which pleased Dumbledore quite a lot. After all if they were ready, why not start them earlier? No doubt a head start would only serve to benefit young Harry. He would need all the time he could get to prepare for when Voldemort returned. Yes, it was a very good sign that he was taking an interest in his studies, and had made a close group of good friends. Lord knows he would need them in his life.

The only scary thing that seemed to surround the boy, was that he was apparently a Parselmouth given that he seemed to collect and speak to any snakes he found outside of his home. His parents had expressed that they were a little worried that something might have happened to Harry from his experience with Voldemort.

Dumbledore could only nod and reason that Harry must have gained a few of the Dark Lord's powers that night as a side effect to his scar. That seemed to worry the parents quite a bit as they had figured as much, but he managed to convince them of his opinion. The power the boy seemed to possess was not because of the Dark Lord, since after all he had been able to use his power to overcome the Dark Lord, so how could he have gained such power only after the incident. He did assure them however; that they should keep this fact a secret as the last thing they needed was for the press to think of Harry as the next Dark Lord. After all the thought of Harry Potter becoming the next Dark Lord seemed three times more terrifying then Voldemort coming back to life, given what the little boy was capable of.

Both Lily and James seemed to agree him. However, they were understandably upset that they still couldn't do anything about Harry's strange scar. They were both convinced that, it was the scar that gave Harry whatever powers Voldemort had transferred to him. Just the thought of their boy having that connection with the Dark Lord was rather unsettling, but as they painfully had to admit, there was nothing they could do about it. With Harry not in any imminent danger, they could only let it be.

Maybe later they'd be able to ascertain what the mark truly meant, and then they'd have a chance of removing it.

* * *

In accordance with the Headmasters advice, Lily used the coming weeks to arrange for the children to begin learning Occlumency. Their other lessons were temporarily put on hold so that they could learn this new ability as she ensured them it would be worthwhile, as it would serve to better control their emotions, and allow them to learn faster while at the same time protecting their minds from intruders. Of course the children saw this as the most important thing they would be learning yet so they each made sure to dedicate themselves to the task fully.

Both Susan and Neville seemed to have no problem relaxing their minds, letting their thoughts drift and finding their center, before they were ready to start building their walls. Harry had a little bit more difficulty in calming his mind as he had always carried himself with an heir of caution despite his easy-going exterior around the family (no doubt a result of his fame he thought to himself). Hermione on the other hand was finding it almost impossible to let go of her thoughts without thinking of anything, as her mind was usually filled with hundreds of them. It had taken quite a bit of coaching by Lily before she was finally able to find her center and prepare to build her walls.

By the end of the month each of the children were able to detect whenever someone used Legilimency on them, with Susan even able to repel someone out of her mind.

* * *

By the time summer came around, the kids had learned more than their parents could ever have expected for them. McGonagall had even pointed out that they could complete most of the first year course already. She had even offered to further their private lessons once they were at school, but after a long discussion amongst the family they concluded that maybe this wasn't such a sensible solution seeing as it would only draw more attention to the kids for their advanced skill. If other students ever found out the cause of this, the teachers could be accused of showing favoritism as well, so they decided it best not to continue their lessons at Hogwarts.

Although, as Hermione had pointed out, if they wanted to do some independent studying by themselves, there was nothing wrong with that.

The others could only grin at her excitement, and why shouldn't she be?

Her life had never been better ever since Harry and Neville had saved her that day on the playground. She was learning magic with her three best friends. Things just didn't get any better for Hermione Granger.


	10. One Big Happy Family

The Grangers and Bones spent so much time at the Manor that summer, that the family simply decided to give them their own permanent bedrooms in the house.

In fact, both families were spending so much time at the Manor anyways, that they were seriously considering moving in to the Manor full time, as their own homes seemed to be doing nothing other than collecting dust for them.

Besides, as opposed to their own homes the Manor was always a flourish of activity, and it was plenty large enough to house five more. Even if they were hesitant to accept the offer, they each knew that as soon as the children heard the idea, the decision would already be made for them.

That only left one problem, how to tell them about Remus furry little problem.

* * *

Unsurprisingly the kids were immediately on board with the idea.

Harry and Neville had even been kind enough to offer them a full tour of the mansion after Frank and James had put forth the idea as despite their constant presence, there was still a large part of the house that they had not seen.

Of course both Granger women were astonished to learn that the entire top floor of the Manor was a library, a library that was easily double the size of the Kensington public library that Hermione spent so much time in. Dan could only chuckle as Harry and Neville had to practically drag the woman out that room. At least he would know where to find them in this big house now if they ever went missing.

For their part, Amelia and Susan preferred the combined setting of the gym and duelling area on the first floor. The facility was so immaculate it could rival the one at the Ministry for Auror training, and that had cost them a fortune to build. This gym came fully stocked with everything from training dummies, weights, machines, a large indoor track, and an even larger open space for practicing.

While the library and training gym were big sellers for both families, it was the rest of the house that was the clinching factor for their decision to move in.

Unlike any other wizarding home in Britain, the Potter-Longbottom Manor was built so that it was both muggle and magical compatible. For the Grangers, this meant that they weren't losing any of their non-magical heritage and could still use the things they had spent their whole life with. For the Bones, it presented a whole new lifestyle full of wonder and amazement. Even things as ordinary as a toaster were enough to set Amelia and Susan off, as Lily tried to explain how she had been able to develop a spell that would allow electricity to work in conjuncture with magic.

Between the large kitchen, dining hall, lounge, gym, and rec. room on the first floor, there was easily enough space to host another 5 members in their home.

The second floor of the Manor had three private studies that the parents could use, one of which was already commandeered as the Marauders workshop for their Magical memorabilia store. However, both the Potters and the Longbottoms were quick to express that both the Grangers and Amelia were welcome to use the other two studies for their work.

The rest of the rooms on the second floor were set up as classrooms. There was one that had a blackboard filled with extensive charms that seemed to take up the whole wall opposite the door, while there was another that was filled with cauldrons and plants. Apparently this one was used as the Potions classroom, but because of its prime location and large size, was also used as the Greenhouse for their collection of magical plants. Neville took great pride in explaining that they had a collection of over fifty different types of plants in the greenhouse and the room was spelled for temperature control, and constant artificial sunlight. Of all the floors in the house, this was the one that Hermione and Susan were most familiar with, having used the classrooms in their lessons with the family.

The third floor was clearly designed with children in mind. It had a game room, a home theater, a playroom, and even the hallways were lined with photographs of the 6 kids.

Harry and Neville showed them their room, a large suite with their very own lounge that had two couches, a small fireplace, a TV, and a Ping-Pong table. Apart from the door that led into the room, there were two other doors leading out of the lounge, one on either side. The boys explained that these were bedrooms, and while they were originally supposed to have separate rooms, both of them preferred sharing one.

Hermione and Susan looked extremely eager at claiming the unused bedroom together across from their friends, but the parents didn't think it was the greatest idea for the four to be essentially sharing a room, so the two girls were given their own bedroom suite with a similar set-up (except no TV, or Ping-Pong table) across the hall. They also learned that Matthew & Joshua, and Sarah & Clarissa had similar set-ups on either side of them, as this floor was solely reserved for kids.

However before the girls could settle into their new bedroom, the boys took the parents upstairs to continue the tour.

The fourth floor housed 6 large bedrooms, each one complete with a walk-in closet and a private bathroom. These were the master bedrooms that the parents used, two of which were now reserved for the Grangers and Amelia.

The other two were being used by Remus and Sirius, though each man preferred to continue to sleep in their own personal lodgings. As gentle a soul as he was, Remus didn't want to take any chances with his Lycanthropy condition so he would never step foot in the Manor during the week of a full moon. He still found it hard to believe that the Potters and Longbottoms could be so supportive of his predicament, and only hoped that the Grangers and Bones would be as understanding when he revealed his deepest secret to them. Sirius on the other hand, had a much different reason for having his own place to stay. He loved Lily like a sister, but he knew she wouldn't hesitate to castrate him if he ever brought one of his weekly conquests into her home. Having a place of his own presented the perfect opportunity to crash after one of his many successful trips to the bar. James and Lily both knew of this, and as far as they were concerned as long as the kids didn't see it they couldn't really be bothered. It's not like Padfoot would listen to them anyway. That man had feared any form of commitment ever since his girlfriend Marlene had been taken from him. Sirius had been devastated by her death, and had sworn off any and all relationships after that. Dating became an emotionless chore and the old dog quickly turned to a string of one-night stands after another as a way to fill the void in his heart. Of course it didn't work, but Sirius wasn't really that concerned. In a way, he already had his own family in the Potters. Hell he had been living with James ever since he ran away from home at the age of fifteen.

When the tour was finally complete, Remus stepped forward to speak to the Grangers and Bones.

"Before you make the decision to live here there's something I need to tell you… something that will probably scare you but I hope you can still accept me for who I am," said Remus quietly, doing his best to look each of the newcomers in the eye in turn. They seemed to be a little bit scared to hear what he had to say but were willing to wait until he was ready to say it.

"A long time ago, when I was young, I was attacked… My father had made a few enemies in his line of work and one of them happened to go by the name of Fenrir Greyback…" Susan and Amelia's eyes went wide and the Grangers began to look anxious, as it was very obvious they were missing something, though they were sure it wasn't anything pleasant.

Remus wasn't sure how to continue, but when James and Sirius each moved to stand on either side of him, it gave him the support he needed to reveal his darkest secret.

"I'm a werewolf… I've been one since I was nine years old. I never thought I'd be able to go to Hogwarts after I'd been bit, the laws against them were even worse than they are now. Each full moon I have to be locked in a room to ensure that I don't hurt anyone. I loose every bit of humanity that I currently possess now. Even my parents were scared of me, and rightfully so."

None of the Grangers or Bones knew what to say. They could only stand their with tears forming in there eyes as this troubled man they had grown to love, bore his heart and soul to them.

"Then one day, just as I was about to give up hope, Dumbledore came to visit me. He allowed me to attend Hogwarts and even made arrangements for me to hide away from the student body on the night of my transformations. I didn't even know what to say to the old man. It was the first time someone had offered me such humanity, and I took it with open arms. I went to Hogwarts, became best friends with James, Sirius and Lily, and I never looked back. I was scared to tell them my secret but I couldn't hide it from them forever. James and Sirius were always too nosy for their own good. They followed me under the Whomping Willow one night and got to see me transform. I nearly ripped them to shreds mind you too, but they were able to escape."

Both the Grangers and Bones immediately relaxed a little at this, and Remus gave his friends a small smile.

"When they told me about it the next morning at breakfast, I thought for sure they would want nothing to do with me for the rest of their lives. Instead, they made a pact to learn to become animals themselves so that I would no longer be alone on the nights I transformed. They only accomplished the feat in 5th year, but by then we would hide out in the Shrieking Shack once a month. I had never felt so accepted in my whole life then I did waking up the morning after with my best friends sleeping on the floor beside me. They helped show me that I was deserving of love. That I was human, and for that I'm eternally grateful."

James and Sirius were both trying not to blush, as Remus looked close to tears. Amelia was already gone, and so too were Lily, Alice, Emma and Dan.

"And then one night, I almost lost everything. I'll never understand why, but Sirius brought another student, Severus Snape down to the Shrieking Shack during one of those nights, and if it weren't for James rescuing him he would've been bit. None of us had the best relation with Severus at the time, but it nearly killed me to fathom that I had almost attacked another, to know that I would have subjected them to my torture."

He had to stop at this point to wipe the tears out of his eyes, and everyone in the room glared at Sirius, who at least had the good grace to look ashamed.

"I became a shell of my former self. Too ashamed to face anyone, I avoided James and Sirius like the plague."

"Where did you go?" asked Hermione tentatively.

Remus just turned and gave her a sad smile.

"I went to the one place in the castle they'd never go, the library. That was where I really got the chance to meet Lily. She was the other Hogwarts prefect in our year and was friendly enough to me at the time, but I didn't want to harm her so I tried to avoid her."

"It didn't work, did it?" said Susan, smiling at Lily.

Remus just chuckled and nodded too. "No she was rather relentless. Wouldn't leave me alone to wallow in my own sorrow until I let her help me. I wasn't ready to tell her, but somehow she already knew. She started brewing vials of Wolfsbane potion for me – it makes the transformations less painful," explained Remus, after seeing the questioning look on Hermione's face. "Anyways the point being that these three actually managed to convince me that I wasn't a monster, that I was just as deserving of love as anyone else, and to this day they don't know how much that means to me. They gave me the support when I was ready to fall, and even now they've given me a home and a family. I ask of you now, if you could do the same."

The Grangers and the Bones didn't know what to say, and the Longbottoms and Potters were watching them quite anxiously, obviously hoping that they'd say yes.

"Of course it's perfectly understandable if you're not comfortable around me, I wouldn't dream of being in the Manor during the nights of my transformations. I have a cottage just outside of –" but that was as much as he could say, because Hermione and Susan had both cut him off with a rib crushing hug.

Amelia, Dan, and Emma weren't far behind, as they too embraced the loveable werewolf in a hug.

Padfoot just smiled, "I can't be sure, but I think that's a yes."

James just smiled and hugged Lily closer to him, as Frank did the same with Alice. The children just cheered, and were quick to break up the family moment so that the Bones and Grangers could collect their things and effectively move in.

It was rare moments like these where Remus how truly blessed he was to have the support of a loving family.

* * *

Unfortunately he didn't get much time to wallow in his emotions, as the children were rather insistent about getting the Bones and Grangers settled in.

The Potters had gone with the Grangers to help them collect and move any of their belongings they wanted into the Manor, while the Longbottoms had done the same with the Bones.

Once they were back; James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank and Amelia were in charge of levitating everything up to the proper bedrooms, with Harry offering to help as well.

Hermione and Susan however had other ideas. Yes, Harry's help would certainly get the job done quicker, but they were adamant in not allowing him or Neville into their room until they had finished setting up their stuff. They wanted the final product to be a surprise.

The two young witches didn't emerge from their room until dinnertime that evening, and only after they had finished their meal of dragon steak, fries, and cauliflower, did the two girls bring the other kids upstairs to see their room.

They had decorated it so that the walls of their lounge were either covered in bookshelves that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, or one of the many posters put up. There were pictures of horses, gryphons, unicorns, and kittens. Instead of a Ping-Pong table, the girls had somehow managed to get a grand piano into their room, and like the rest of the kids, decided to save space and bunk together in one of the two rooms. This meant that the other bedroom was available for extra space, and the girls had decided to convert it into a large walk-in closet, complete with a changing room, loveseat and bookshelf.

"How in Merlin's beard did you do all this by yourselves?" asked Neville in awe, as Matthew and Joshua raced past him to have a go at playing on the piano.

Hermione and Susan just smiled and high-fived each other. "Well you know, being girls and all we possess several superior abilities over the less fortunate gender, one of those being our knack for decoration," said Susan grinning at the boy's shocked faces.

"Once we had a plan of what we wanted to do, all we had to do was get the parents to help move a few of the things around, and voila," said Hermione, raising her arms up to the ceiling.

The kids just laughed, as they took turns gathering around the grand piano, singing whichever songs they knew at the top of their lungs, only to drown out the music with their own laughter.

They really were quite terrible at it, but that didn't seem to bother any of them.

Not even the parents were complaining. They were under the impression that the sound of the children's laughter was like pure magic.

It seemed as if their family had grown to the size of the 17, and the Potters, Longbottoms and Marauders, wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

Since that day, life at the Manor had been a flurry of activity.

With Dan, Emma, Amelia, Frank, Alice, Sirius and Remus each having to work during the day, James and Lily had adopted the role of parents for each of the eight kids living at the Manor – even if only three of them were truly theirs.

Each of the kids had grown closer together in their time together and were now practically inseparable. They ate meals together, went to school together (Amelia had enrolled Susan at school with the other three children under their insistence to be together), studied together, played together, they did it all.

The four had become so comfortable around each other that they were truly able to be themselves, and grow into the people that they never could have been if it weren't for the presence of each other in their lives.

Susan was no longer the quiet girl that showed only small glimpses of the energetic, fun-loving child that she had now become from her time at the Manor. Neville and Hermione were similar in the same way, that they had grown comfortable being themselves around the others was a wonderful sight to the parents, and their confidence levels had sky-rocketed as a result. Even Harry felt like just another kid in the presence of his friends, and never got the impression that he was some sort of freak or something simply because he could perform advanced magic.

It was truly a sight for sore eyes, seeing each child overcome their past insecurities because of the trust they shared in one another.

Even the younger kids; Matthew, Joshua, Sarah and Clarissa were getting in on the act, and spent countless days tagging along on anything their older siblings did.

When you combined that with the way the parents were bonding together, it was easy to see that the Potters, Longbottoms, Grangers, Bones and Marauders had meshed together into one big happy family.


	11. Letters and Diagon Alley

Hermione was the first to receive her Hogwarts letter out of the 4 children, and although she had been expecting it, she was still ecstatic to receive confirmation. She still couldn't get over the fact that she, Hermione Granger, was a witch! And now she was going to Hogwarts with her best friends! She had never been happier before in her life.

She had practically ripped the letter off of the poor owl's leg that had come to deliver the acceptance letter to what must be the most eager muggleborn ever. After offering the bird the crusts of her sandwich, she called her parents into the kitchen and they sat down to read the letter together.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)

_Dear Ms. Granger,_

_ We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_ Term begins on the 1__st__ of September. We await your owl by no later than the 31__st__ of July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

_P.S Congratulations Hermione, I know you must be most pleased with yourself right now. Your dedication and determination will be a welcome addition to whichever house you end up in. I take it since you and your family have been in contact with the Potters and Longbottoms for quite some time now that you won't need the customary visit that muggleborns require to prove that magic exists. When you get the opportunity you should probably show your letter to your friends and I'm sure the adults would be more than happy to take your family to Diagon Alley._

_Best of Luck Hermione, and I do hope to see you again soon,_

_Aunt Minnie_

* * *

"She signed your letter Aunt Minnie! Blimey Hermione she must really have taken a liking to you! It took me until 6th year to get away with calling her that, and she still hexes Sirius whenever he tries!" exclaimed James, after reading the letter.

Hermione just smiled at the antics of who would no doubt be her favorite professor at Hogwarts. After all, the 4 kids had gotten to know McGonagall fairly well over the past year as she came as often as she could to sit in on their lessons. She was very close to Lily, Frank and Alice, and even had a soft spot for the Marauders. By far though her biggest weakness to that stern exterior was the children. She couldn't help but smile every time she saw the 4 playing or learning together. In fact it had led to quite a bit of teasing from the Marauders (mainly Sirius) that she'd have a tough time maintaining her stern visage at Hogwarts when the 4 kids got there next fall. This of course got him turned into a little yellow canary but all it did was provide Harry with a moving target for spell casting practice. Sirius did well to avoid the first few beams of red light, but after the 4th shot, the 5th one connected with the little bird's chest and the stunned bird dropped onto the ground with a soft thump.

It was Clarissa who was the first to get her laughter together long enough to come to the rescue of her favorite uncle, and thankfully so because a few seconds later after Lily revived the mutt, it was only her arms around his legs that kept the man from lashing out and challenging his smiling godson to a duel (a duel he knew very well he would lose, but still it was the principle of the matter – you got to give a dog a bone, you can't just leave him out in the cold, especially a fellow Marauder).

Of course it didn't help his case that everyone in the room was laughing at him and that even worse, Clarissa went over to give Harry a slobbery kiss on the cheek in congratulations.

Of course now it was Susan who just couldn't resist teasing her friend, but when Harry pulled his little sister into a tight hug and told her that anyone making fun of his sister was asking to make enemies, it promptly shut her up – even if she knew from the smile on his face that Harry wasn't threatening her. At this everyone just started laughing all over again at Harry's over-protectiveness, which only served to the delight of everyone in the room, especially Clarissa and Sarah.

* * *

In the span it took for Susan to receive her letter from the time Hermione received hers, the family had been kept quite busy.

Amelia, Frank and Alice had all gone on a business trip to America in an effort to improve the relationship between the two countries, with the hope of forging an alliance that each country would lend Aurors to the other in that country's time of need.

The trip itself had lasted for the better part of a month, during which time the parents made sure to call home every night on their mirrors (the Marauders had improved their original model so that the range was now infinite) to hear what news they had from Britain.

Clarissa and Sarah were doing well, enjoying the gymnastic classes that Lily had enrolled them in, while Matthew and Joshua were having a blast learning tae-kwon-doe. Hermione had her hands full trying to ensure that none of the other three got into too much trouble at school, while at the same time actually teaching them the subjects. It irked her a little that they fooled around so much in class, but they were always quick to get back on topic when she scolded them. Still, even she had to admit that their antics were pretty entertaining, and it felt good to be able to bail them out of trouble every once in a while. She even lied to a teacher last week, just to get Harry and Neville out of trouble after they had been caught trying to hide spiders in Dudley's jacket. Those boys were definitely a bad influence on her, but she loved them and her loyalty to her friends far outweighed that of the teachers.

Lily was keeping herself busy by tutoring the children and stocking up their own medicine supply lab (she had to complete a mail order for a whole list of things as it seemed that Harry had developed her husbands knack for injuring himself). James still spent at least four hours a day huddled away in his workshop, never once allowing anyone outside until the finished product was ready for testing. It had become a favorite game of the kids to see if they could figure out what it was he was working on, but every time James caught one of them listening at the door, he was always quick to shoo them away. The only ones that were allowed in were his fellow Marauders, and even they wouldn't tell them what they working on. As a result, Susan had already placed a prize as to whoever would be the first to successfully knick something from their office, the only rule being that Harry couldn't use magic to get past the charms on the door.

Remus and Sirius had also kept themselves busy, working the storefront in Diagon Alley. They were always running out of things like dictation quills, charmed notepads, invisible ink, hair growth potion, sneakoscopes, joke books, fanged Frisbees and their best new bestseller, trick doorknobs. It had been Sirius's creation. All you had to do was stick the doorknob to the wall and watch as the existing door disappears, only to be replaced by the decoy, effectively preventing anyone from entering the room. They were ideal for both pranks, and secrecy as they were virtually undetectable. As proven by their very own test models, a few nosy children.

Amelia, Alice and Frank all found the rouse hilarious, as it was no secret that the kids were determined to get into the Marauders Workshop, but since they didn't know about the trick doorknobs, they never found out how. It really was one of the Marauders finer creations.

They even took a few of them with them on their trip to America so to ensure their meetings would be completely private.

The only recommendation they had to improve the product was maybe adding a silencing rune so that it also effectively blocked out sound, but other than that it was genius.

* * *

By the time Harry and Neville finally received their Hogwarts letters at the end of July, it had been almost a full year since Hermione had received hers. Matthew and Joshua had finally managed to break into the Marauders Workshop during this time, but that was only because they brought in a couple of Flobberworms from the forest to chew through the floor in their bedroom and down into the office below.

Neither boy would ever forget the sight of James grinning like an idiot upon learning of their successful break-in, nor would they forget having to fork over all of the money they won to pay for fixing the damages. The Marauders might have thought it was hilarious but their mother was none too pleased.

In fact if it weren't for the distraction of Harry and Neville's birthday, the two would probably still be weeding the flowerbeds.

Thankfully when they finally did receive them, Alice had given in and allowed them to come on the much anticipated school-shopping trip to Diagon Alley. They were hoping to get a few new things from the Marauders store, and maybe if they were lucky, a chance to sneak out and buy a wand.

* * *

Their letters were almost identical to Hermione's one except for the personal note McGonagall had written at the bottom of each of theirs. For Susan she had praised her for her dedication to studies and had even included a sentence where she told the girl how proud her parents would be of her. For Neville's she had also praised the lad for his hard work but also included that she had taken the liberty of arranging the opportunity for him to privately meet with Professor Sprout in hopes that he can further his learning in Herbology (Neville had already made it quite clear that he was interested in studying his mastery in the subject). Harry's letter however was a much different approach. Apart from the formal acceptance that was customary to all of the letter's, Harry's personal note was written by Dumbledore and only asked that he keep some of his more advanced abilities secret as best he could, particularly his abilities with wandless magic, Parseltongue and his control of elemental's.

Harry just joked that he was a little put out at the thought that he couldn't light anyone on fire if they insulted his friends. Of course Neville just laughed at this and pointed out that he could just as easily transfigure them into a bird and use them for target practice, but a verbal lashing from Hermione let him know that, that probably wasn't a very good idea.

And so, that next morning the group woke early and prepared themselves to make the trip to Diagon Alley. The Potter's, Longbottoms, and Marauders each decided it best to alter their appearance for the upcoming trip as each of them were too easily recognizable for their close relation to Harry Potter. The last thing the group wanted was for their visit to be interrupted by everyone they met fawning over Harry.

After changing eye-color, hair-color and in the case of the Potter's, skin color as well, the group met up with the Grangers and the Bones, where after discussing the names of their fake muggle identities they set out for the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

Walking into the Leaky Cauldron with a large crowd of muggles trailing behind her, Amelia Bones wasn't too surprised at the varying looks she received. They ranged from shock, curiosity, amusement, or even the occasional look of revolt. She really didn't care to explain herself at the moment though; she was a woman on a mission. It was her job to lead the disguised group of Potters, Longbottoms, and Marauders through the Alley all the while showing the Grangers where they could get all of their daughter's school supplies.

It had been previously decided that the group would head to Gringotts first where they would arrange a private meeting with the Goblins to discuss matters of their estates before heading out to purchase the kids supplies.

* * *

Upon walking up to the head teller, Amelia was quick to request a private room for herself and her guests. The goblin at the teller looked like he wanted to question the need for this request at first, but when he realized that the people standing behind Amelia were actually the Potters and Longbottoms in disguise he was quick to make arrangements for the wealthy members of two Noble houses, three if you included Amelia.

With that he led Amelia and her large entourage into a large ornate looking office. It didn't take long before the large doors opened once again, giving passage to 3 large goblins. The first was a good foot taller than the two bodyguards behind him, and his large toothy grin coupled with his long black hair and the impression of power he gave off, was a definite sign that this goblin commanded respect. He was covered from the neck down in gold plated armor, and the chest piece had a large sparkling ruby over where his heart would have been. It was a not so subtle reminder to the group that although the goblins served as bankers, they were primarily warriors.

"Good evening Mrs. Bones" said the tall goblin as he sat down in the chair behind the high desk. "I take it that the group with you is not entirely who they say they are?"

Amelia didn't even bat an eye; it was obvious that the goblins would have been able to see through their enchantments. "Nothing gets past you Lord Ragnok," said Amelia smiling. "We have disillusioned part of are crowd, as to avoid unwanted attention."

"Oh and who might you have amongst you that would draw such a level of attention?" said Ragnok, leaning over the desk with a toothy grin forming on his face.

"Why, Harry Potter and his family are here to discuss matters pertaining to their accounts," said Amelia grinning like a Cheshire cat.

The Head Goblin just looked over at the assembled group, seeming to scan each of them before his eyes stopped at the little boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"Greetings Mr. Potter I was wondering when I'd finally have the pleasure of meeting you. Even in goblin culture your story is legendary."

Harry just smiled. His parents had made sure to teach him how to show proper etiquette to a goblin and he intended to do just that. It would after all be quite foolish to insult the ones that guarded your gold. Dropping to one knee, Harry bowed his head and put his hand to his heart, before proudly declaring, "Believe me the pleasure is all mine Lord Ragnok, may your gold run plentiful, and you're enemies die at your blade."

The goblin just smirked at this, revealing a face full of razor sharp teeth. "You are too kind Mr. Potter."

Behind him, Matthew and Joshua snickered at the formality, and Sarah had to elbow them both in the ribs to make them shut up. Harry didn't need to see their faces to know they'd definitely be making fun of him for that when they got home. Hoping to save face, Harry stood up to once again address the Goblin chief. "Please my Lord if you could just call me Harry I'd very much appreciate it."

The goblin's toothy grin just got even wider at this statement. Harry knew immediately from the maniacal glint in his eye that he never wanted to be on his bad side. He didn't doubt that the goblins could be fierce opponents. However to his utter surprise, Ragnok climbed down from his chair and also got down on one knee in front of him and bowed his head, before stating, "very well Harry if that is your wish but I must ask that for the rest of the meeting you call me Ragnok. Your defeat of the Dark Lord saved our nation from being forced into a rather ugly war, and your manners here today have only reaffirmed my suspicions that you would be a most valuable friend to the goblin nation."

Harry didn't know what to do; he was completely caught off guard. His parents had told him that the relationship between goblins and wizards wasn't the greatest, and yet here was their King kneeling in front of him.

When the boy didn't react, Ragnok looked up to see the shocked expression of the boy in front of him, and his family who were all standing there with their eyes threatening to pop out of their heads. It was enough to make the Goblin King chuckle, something that immediately caused his two guards to begin laughing as well. Before anyone knew it, the entire room was laughing, and Ragnok and Harry were shaking hands.

* * *

Two hours later, having withdrawn over two thousand galleons, appointed magical guardians, discussed the children's inheritances, and the possibility of warding the Grangers old home (they still kept it solely for the purpose of entertaining their muggle relations) they were finally ready to explore the Alley.

Knowing that their friends didn't get the opportunity to get out much Amelia, Susan, Remus and Sirius did much of the shopping visiting stores like Madame Malkin's Everyday Dress Robes and the Apothecary for the children's potion's ingredients, effectively freeing up time for the others to spend in their favourite stores.

Unsurprisingly James and Harry spend most of the afternoon drooling over the new Nimbus 2000 racing broom, whereas Lily and Hermione chose to spend most of their time in the book store looking for any interesting tomes to add to the already extensive Potter-Longbottom library.

Alice took Neville to purchase a new trunk, while Frank gave Dan and Emma the general tour of all the shops, leaving Matthew and Joshua to sneak off to do their own personal shopping.

Hardly believing their own luck at getting away from the parents so easily, the two boys happily explored Diagon Alley all by themselves. After buying ice-cream at Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, they had to be rescued by this enormous man named Hagrid after they accidentally stumbled into Knockturn Alley. Thankfully he couldn't take them back to their parents, as thanks to their disguises, he didn't know who they were. Still, the things he told them were enough to curb the two boy's adventurist side for the time being as they set out themselves to find the parents. They knew Aunt Lily would probably still be in the bookstore, so all they had to do was find that and they were golden. No one had to be any the wiser that they had been only a few steps away from hopefully being able to purchase their very own wand at a store called Borgin and Burkes.

* * *

Neville was delighted to learn that he would be getting an identical trunk to Harry's. His magically enlarged 7-compartment trunk came with everything from a duelling room, a library to an apartment and also had every security charm available combined with shrinking and feather light charms for easy portability. The only difference between the two was that Harry's was already hooked up to the Potter-Longbottom library through the family grimoire, but Alice assured him they'd be able to do the same thing for him.

Perhaps the most pleasant part of their day was that not one person had recognized their true identities, effectively allowing them to escape being hounded by the legend of Harry Potter that still gripped the Alley. Whether it was the numerous posters of Harry Potter found in several of the stores, the Harry Potter manikins in Madam Malkin's or the numerous bookshelves dedicated to the young wizard in Flourish and Blotts, the legend of Harry Potter seemed to follow them everywhere.

Sirius even had the audacity to purchase his very own Harry Potter life size doll. Lily was not amused, but James found the thing bloody hilarious. The thing was decked out in Gryffindor school robes, taped up glasses, a mop of messy black hair, sparkling green eyes, and the famous lightning bolt shaped scar. It wouldn't do much, other than clean its glasses, but occasionally it would say things like 'I've always wanted a family' or 'you give me the strength to block a killing curse'. The whole family was silently waiting for Harry to arrive and get his first glance at the doll. They knew he'd be absolutely mortified if it opened its mouth to speak in front of him.

When Harry finally returned with Remus after browsing through a store that offered a wide range of enchanted muggle toys, his reaction didn't disappoint. He took one look at the thing and as soon as he saw the scar on the four head, it promptly burst into flames. Sirius was laughing so hard he probably attracted the attention of the whole street. He really didn't care though; the sight of his godson's face was priceless. Even Neville was failing to hold back his laughter, and it wasn't until Lily reminded them what their next stop was that the group remembered to shut up.

They had been looking forward to this next stop all day.

* * *

"Why who do we have here?" began Mr. Ollivander as he looked across the counter at the large group that had just entered the store.

It didn't take long for his face to light up into a large grin.

"Harry Potter. I was hoping I'd be seeing you today. Lily, James it's great to see you again, I take it your wands are still treating you well?"

"Yes thank-you Ollivander they've always performed splendidly, but if you don't mind could we get to choosing the kid's wands? We're trying to limit our time in the Alley. We're only planning on making are public appearance when we arrive at the Platform on September 1st."

"Good. Good. Well in that case may I ask who wants to go first?" said the old man, peering down at the four oldest children in a look of excitement that was enough to make each of them reconsider.

In the end, it was Neville who bravely walked forwards.

Ollivander merely asked him which hand was his wand hand, before a charmed tape measure began to snake itself up and down his outstretched arm, as Ollivander hummed to himself as he walked down the rows, pulling out different boxes for Neville to try.

After 8 failed attempts Neville finally connected with a 13-inch white oak and unicorn hair core on his 9th attempt. According to Ollivander it was one of his most pure-and-powerful wands in the store. Neville could only stare at his new prize possession before being firmly hugged by his parents in a congratulatory embrace.

Hermione was up next. It only took her 4 tries for her to find the wand that worked for her, a fact that seemed to disappoint Ollivander. The wand that chose her was a 9-¾ inch, vine-wood with a dragon-heart string core, which was apparently very good for charms and transfiguration. Her parents also seemed extremely proud of this, and noticed that the bright blue balls of flame that she could create were much brighter then with her old practice wand.

Susan was next and after 5 tries she connected with an 11-inch black spruce and griffon feather, which was supposed to be top of the class for healing. She too received high-fives and hugs from the rest of the group.

Finally it was Harry's turn to get his wand. His took noticeably longer, which only served to entertain the wand-maker.

"Tricky customer I see not to worry, not to worry, I have just the wand for everyone, now let's see how about… no not that, it won't do… Now let's see… I wonder… Yes. Yes, if anyone it would be you Mr. Potter."

As soon as Ollivander handed Harry the 11 and ¼ inch holly and phoenix feather wand a golden glow seemed to pulse from Harry and the wand. He didn't even need to make a swishing movement with the wand as a stream of gold and red sparks flew out the end, upon first-touch.

The parents beamed at him, as Ollivander began clapping happily.

"Oh yes! Well-done, Well-done Mr. Potter. However, it is quite curious that it was this wand that chose you Mr. Potter"

"Excuse me Sir but what's so curious about this wand."

Ollivander seemed to stare right through into his soul when he answered. It certainly was rather unhinging. "I remember every wand I've ever sold Mr. Potter. The phoenix that gave the tail feather for your wand gave only one other; the other tail feather was from the wand that gave you that scar. The wand chooses the wizard Mr. Potter. After all You-Know-Who did great things, terrible yes but great. I think it's fair to say that we can expect great things from you too Mr. Potter."

No one in the group really knew how to react to this revelation, so they just left the store quietly choosing to end their day on a happy note, with a stop at the last destination of the day, the pet store.

Harry was quick to choose a beautiful snowy owl that he seemed to fall in love with immediately, deciding to call her Hedwig. Twenty minutes later Hermione had chosen a large ginger cat that she named Crookshanks (although Harry personally thought it looked more like a small tiger, with its scrunched up face and short legs, though he didn't dare say that to Hermione). Susan decided that she didn't really want to have a pet, as despite spending the entire time browsing, nothing seemed to catch her eye, and Neville already had Trevor, his toad, which his Great Uncle Alfie had given him for his 9th birthday.

Clarissa seemed to want a pet as well and didn't take to kindly to Lily telling her that she wasn't old enough for the responsibility yet.

Finally after spending over 7 hours the group was ready to leave Diagon Alley and head home to the Manor.

They still couldn't believe that they would be leaving for Hogwarts in a months time.

* * *

**Hope you guys like the story so far. Drop me a review and let me know what you think.  
**

**The next update will be coming on Thursday and it will have the kids leaving for school.**


	12. Hogwarts Express

The next few weeks at the Manor leading up to September 1st were likely the most hectic time in memory for both Harry and Neville. Between Hermione's rigorous encouragement to read their schoolbooks, the parent's lectures on acceptable behavior and what they could expect once they got to Hogwarts, and spending time with their brothers and sisters, they hardly ever had time to sleep. It was quickly becoming too much to handle for the kids, as they didn't know if they should be happy to attend Hogwarts and get away from the madness, or sad that they'd be leaving their family behind. Neither boy had ever spent more than 4 hours away from their parents, so the thought of not seeing them again until Christmas was very terrifying.

It was no easy accomplishment for the parents either, to let their children go off on their own, but they knew it was time to let go. Hogwarts had been a place where all their wildest dreams came true, and they couldn't be happier that the children were getting the opportunity to discover their own new adventures. The only thing that worried them was the prophecy that they had yet to tell Harry.

James, Frank, Amelia and Sirius wanted to tell Harry about it but Remus, Lily and Alice felt that it was still too early to burden the young boy with such expectations.

Whenever the topic was broached, the debate almost always turned ugly, but eventually James, Amelia, Frank and Sirius were able to convince the others that they should tell Harry the truth, especially since given the events surrounding him, it wouldn't appear as that much of a shocker. The important thing however, would be to assure Harry that he had the support of all of them, and that they weren't going to let him do this by himself. After all each member of the family knew how close they came to losing everything 10 years ago.

With that ugly thought in mind, they promised to write to Dumbledore and get him to tell Harry the true wording of the prophesy, as he was the only one who knew.

* * *

The prophecy aside, the family was faced with another threatening issue at hand: how to prepare for the reaction of Harry Potter returning to the wizarding world. Harry had heard that the fame surrounding him was currently at its highest point apart from the aftermath of Halloween 10 years prior. News of Harry Potter's acceptance to Hogwarts had resulted in the Daily Prophet dedicating an entire special edition of the paper to his legend. He couldn't even make up his mind on which was worse, the made-up parts of the paper or the truth.

His family had told him that such a reaction should have been expected, but he still found it utterly ridiculous. Sure he had ended a war as a baby but he was still only a boy, was what he did with his life really that important to the wizarding public? However, when he had voiced these concerns to his parents, he wasn't very pleased with the answer he got. They told him that although he really didn't like it, people had good reason to treat him as a hero. They told him of the horrors of the war, how most people had given up hope and that defeat seemed inevitable and then somehow this child performed what could only be described as a miracle to save them all. All he could do was be patient and wait for the hype surrounding him to cool down to a more tolerable level.

The worst part of his fame though was that now that he was going to Hogwarts, he could no longer avoid it, he would have to face the masses.

It had long been decided that the entire family would show up together at Kings Cross station to send the children off on the Hogwarts Express, with none of them under disguise.

He knew the experience would be as horrible as his first visit to Diagon Alley a few years ago, he just hoped that it would die down when he got to school.

* * *

And so that next morning, the large family of Longbottoms, Potters, Grangers, Bones and Marauders took the car to the station. They had already voted on which mode of transportation would be the most preferable, but since all 4 kids wanted to have the opportunity to walk through the barrier instead of just portkeying or Flooing inside they had decided to take the car to the station the muggle way. Now normally a family of 17 wouldn't be able to fit into a single car, but after a few expansion charms from Lily, the inside of the car was the size of a large room.

Nearly 40 minutes later after a slow drive, the group of 17 parked the car and walked into Kings Cross Station. Being a Sunday morning the station wasn't nearly as busy as it could have been. This of course didn't do the group much a favor since it only served to make the families heading for Platforms nine and ten stand out.

They had made sure to get to the Platform with over an hour's time in the hope that they could avoid the panic of people trying to board the train at the last minute.

After a quick pep talk where the group decided the order to cross the barrier it was time to go. It was decided that Amelia and Susan would go first ensuring it was clear on the other side without drawing too much attention to the people that would be following behind them. The Grangers were next as it was decided it would be best to send them ahead of the Potters who were sure to draw every eye on the other side. After watching the Longbottoms run through the barrier, it was finally time for Sirius and Remus to cross the barrier for the first time since their 7th year at school. What they saw on the other side was way beyond what they could have expected.

* * *

It was as if the entire magical community of Britain was crammed onto platform 9¾. Neither Sirius nor Remus could see any of their friends but from the shouts of 'Potter!' coming from the centre of the crowd, they had a good idea that they were already taken captive by the witches and wizards of Britain.

* * *

Hermione was in awe at the sight of the large crimson steam engine in front of her that stood tall behind the large group of wizards and witches watching the platform. Realizing that these people were waiting to see the very people who would be coming through the platform behind her, she quickly grabbed her parent's hands and led them over to Susan and Amelia who were looking rather nervous as they stood off to the side of the immense crowd.

Almost as soon as she made it to them she heard numerous piercing screams of joy fill the station as she quickly turned around only to catch a glimpse of the Potters being swarmed by the hundreds of people who had gathered to meet their heroes.

* * *

Harry was not pleased. He hadn't even been able to take two steps through the barrier before a crowd of people screaming his name ambushed him. He was holding on tightly to his parents absolutely refusing to let go in fear that he'd quickly lose them to the crowd, despite numerous requests to shake his hand or get his autograph.

His parents looked as unsure as he was of what to do to get away from the crowd, but it were the looks of fear on his sister's faces that brought him to action.

Harry felt an anger bubbling up inside him at these people who couldn't even leave him alone long enough to say goodbye to his family. With that thought Harry lifted up the crowd so that he was free to address them.

"Look I know you're anxious to meet me, but to be honest I don't want to be treated like some celebrity. I'm just an 11 year-old boy and all I want to do is say goodbye to my family in peace, board the train and go to school like every other child going to Hogwarts. I just want to do normal kid stuff; laugh, play, learn, make friends and pull pranks. So please if you could just do me this favor and give me some space I'd greatly appreciate it, and I'd even be willing to organize another date to meet with you guys."

The crowd seemed to be indifferent to this. A few of them nodded their heads to signal that they could agree with his terms but many seemed either shocked that he didn't want to exercise his fame, while others just seemed to ignore his request and continued to attempt to make acquaintance with him.

A few of them were so relentless that Harry even had to threaten them with a banishing charm before they would leave him alone long enough to say goodbye to his family.

"Make sure you pay attention in class, and do your best on all your tests," said Lily as she hugged her son goodbye.

"I will mom I promise," said Harry.

"And don't forget to have fun and pull some pranks while you're at it." Chastised James who was ruffling up his son's hair as he spoke.

Harry just laughed, "We'll see dad, I don't really want to draw any more attention to myself, but if anyone starts stirring up trouble, I'll let them know I mean business."

"That's my boy," joked James. "Just do what you can to recover the marauders map, it will be really useful to have along with the mirrors and cloak we gave you."

"Yeah I will, and thanks again for the cloak. I'll definitely make sure to put it to good use. I'll call you guys once a week to let you know how I'm getting along."

"Just don't break too many rules Harry, and never forget that we love you," said Lily before once again giving him a crushing hug as she cried onto his head.

"Keep your friends close son," said James, as he pulled Lily off of him.

"I'll be okay guys don't worry," grinned Harry. "Just take good care of Clarissa and Sarah for me"

"We'll miss you Harry," cried his sisters. "You have to promise to call often, we want to know how you're doing and any cool new magic you learn while you're away."

"I will, I promise. Take care guys," said Harry as he gave each one of them another hug before boarding the train with Neville to look for Hermione and Susan.

* * *

It took a few awkward meetings where Harry and Neville had to quickly pop their heads into compartments to find their friends, before they finally met up with them in an empty compartment near the back of the train.

Unfortunately by this time, practically every student on the train knew which compartment the boy-who-lived was sitting in. Needless to say, any student who tried to enter their compartment to gain face with Harry Potter wasn't really welcomed with open arms. Perhaps the most obvious of their numerous guests was a boy named Ron Weasley who actually used the excuse that there was nowhere else to sit, all the while just staring at Harry's scar. It had been an extremely awkward 10 minutes before they could get Ron to leave, and that only worked because Hermione started lecturing on what she hoped to learn at school, and the additional readings she had planned. Needless to say Ron wasn't very impressed by the bossy know-it-all or any of Harry's other friends for that matter, and resolved that he would be the perfect candidate for Harry Potter's best friend.

Harry wasn't having any of it though; he loved his friends and was far less tense when they were alone in their compartment. Unfortunately they were hardly ever left in peace, for as soon as one person left their compartment another always seemed ready to climb inside. It was as if they were lined up outside the door or something.

Finally after having to listen to some 4th year named Roger Davies spout on and on about how great it would be to have Harry in Ravenclaw, Harry was on edge.

Unfortunately for him Draco Malfoy was the next student to enter their compartment and he had every intention of making his presence known.

"Potter, the name's Malfoy. I heard you've had some issues adjusting to life in the wizarding world. Don't worry though I'll show you the ropes, first things first though, ditch the squib and the mudblood, men of our status shouldn't be…"

Whatever they should be the group would never find out however, as Harry had finally reached his boiling point. Absolutely furious at this dunderhead who had just paraded into his compartment without permission only to insult his friends, Harry couldn't even stop himself if he wanted to. In a flash his wand was in his hand and pointed at the blonde-haired, pale face boy.

No incantation could be heard but everyone in the compartment saw the brilliant blue beam that sprung from Harry's wand, as Malfoy slowly began to transform.

It didn't take long before a large pink ostrich with the words 'leave me alone – HP' written across its chest in emerald green writing was standing in the doorway of their compartment.

Malfoy seemed too stunned to even move as he just stared at Harry before Neville and Susan shoved him out of their compartment laughing.

Thankfully that demonstration must have scared off any prospective followers as the 4 kids were allowed to enjoy the rest of their journey in peace.

* * *

After Susan had finished talking about the relationship between the Ministry and Hogwarts, the kids bought a few sweets from the trolley. Harry found that he really enjoyed chocolate frogs, he even got a card that had Dumbledore on it, but he hated Berty Blott's Every Flavor Beans. He only tried one, but the mucus flavor was enough to turn him away for good.

Neville on the other hand, loved the sweets, and was eating everything that Hermione wouldn't touch; her parents' career in dentistry meant that she wasn't allowed to eat anything nearly as sweet as Liquorice Wands, Sugar Quills, or Fabulous Wizarding Toffees.

After polishing off the rest of their candy, the group took turns changing into their school robes in the privacy of the compartment while the opposite sex stood outside the door.

The only problem was that Trevor must have used this as an opportunity to escape, as thirty minutes later, Neville realized he was missing.

"Well when did you have him last," said Hermione, a little irritated that her friend could be so foolish as to lose his pet on the first day.

"I don't know, I had him with me in my pocket before I changed into my school robes, and then when I went to pull him out, he was gone!" said Neville, looking slightly scared.

"Neville you really have to do a better job remembering these things in the future," groaned Harry as Susan snickered. "What happened to the collapsible tank your parents bought you for him?"

"Uh I might have forgotten it at home," said Neville sheepishly, the tips of his ears going pink.

Harry just grinned at his friend while Susan failed to hide her laughter. Hermione just rolled her eyes.

"How about this," said Harry. "I'll summon him this once, but only if you promise to make the effort to learn the charm so that you can do it the next time you lose him."

Neville just smiled, and Harry got out his wand and focused on calling the toad to him. He wanted the toad to come soaring through the compartment door and into his hand. He needed to summon the toad to him.

Hermione and Susan sat watching, waiting for Harry to summon the toad. They knew the summoning charm was a 4th year spell, and although Harry didn't know the incantation, he had always been able to perform the charm. It was just one of the special things that Harry Potter made look easy.

When the toad finally came soaring through the door, it didn't even have a chance to land in Harry's hand as Neville awkwardly grabbed it out of the air, nearly squishing it in his excitement.

"Hang on," said Hermione, peering over to get a good look at the toad that was in her best friend's hands. "Why is it yellow?"

Neville paled, seeming to notice this for the first time and Susan laughed.

"Who knows, maybe Weasley finally got that spell right he was bragging about!" said the strawberry blond, causing Hermione to snort.

"I highly doubt it, there was no way that was a real spell."

"A galleon says you can't turn it green," challenged Susan.

"Well I certainly wouldn't use something like grass stains, emeralds, magic bean, turn this toad, back to green."

"The only color anyone's going to be changing him to is back to normal," said Neville protectively, causing Hermione and Susan to blush as Harry tried to recover from his laughter.

"Well let me know how that works out why don't you? I want to try and catch a nap before we get there," said Harry, leaning over to rest his head on the windowsill.

"Right I guess that's our cue, who's up for a game of Exploding Snap?" said Susan rubbing her hands together as Harry groaned loudly, eliciting Susan to stick out her tongue at him.

Neville just laughed, while Hermione got out a book to read for the rest of the journey.

* * *

Two hours later, and they had finally arrived at Hogsmeade Station. They were instructed to leave their trunks on the train, but thanks to the parents, the four kids each had a multi compartment trunk with shrinking charms, meaning that they could simply carry them inside their pockets instead of having to leave them on the express like everyone else.

The station itself was utter pandemonium as everyone raced off of the train, eager to get outside and stretch their legs. They thought they might get lost in the crowd for a bit but thankfully they heard the cry of, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" bellowed by a man that was roughly four times the size of any of the children gathered around him.

"That must be Hagrid, my parents always called him the gentle giant," said Harry.

"I wonder if he really is a giant," said Susan as she stared at the large man.

"He can't be. Giants are much larger and less… mannered. He might be a half-giant, but other than that I don't see how he could possibly have any relation to them," said Hermione.

"Trust Hermione to know the answer," joked Neville.

Hermione just smiled at her friend as she playfully wacked him on the arm, before she scrambled into one of the boats, barely able to contain her excitement at finally being able to see the castle.

After a short wait for the rest of their peers to get organized, they set out across the lake, to get their first view of the place they would call home for the next seven years.

"You think Sirius was telling the truth about the giant squid?" asked Neville, peering over the side of the boat and dipping his hand into the water.

"Maybe but I wouldn't take him on his word about it," shrugged Harry. "The way he described the thing you'd think it was his pet at some point or something."

"Please, like anyone would own anything that dangerous," said Hermione, still looking ahead anxiously. She couldn't wait to get her first glimpse of the castle.

"There's probably something written about it in the library if you wanted to research it," said Susan, trying and failing to keep a straight face. Harry and Neville soon joined in in her infectious laughter.

Hermione just turned and glared at the girl, causing her to smile even more brilliantly.

"Watch it, keep your heads down," bellowed Hagrid from the front in his own boat. "Should be right around this bend here…"

"Whoa…"

Harry's jaw dropped open at his first sight of the castle. It was huge!

All he could see in the dark was the outline of the building, but if his first impression was anything to go by, this place was like a child's dream come true.

He could hardly wait to explore the place where he'd spend the next seven years of his life.

Beside him, his friends were having similar reactions, and Hagrid was smiling brilliantly as he gazed back at them.

It was his favorite part of working at Hogwarts, seeing the awed faces of the eager first years when they first laid eyes on the castle.

It was just another not so subtle reminder as to how magical Hogwarts truly was.


	13. The Sorting

**Thought I'd post the next chapter update. Harry and co. finally starting Hogwarts. I don't know if any of you are 'Ron-lovers' but I'm not really a big fan of his. Let's just say it will take some time before the four friends warm up to the youngest Weasley male, but he'll never be as close with Harry and co. as he was to Harry and Hermione in canon.**

**Again I don't own Harry Potter, I'm just having a little bit of fun with J.K.R wonderful creation.**

* * *

"The firs' year Professor McGonagall" boomed Hagrid as he led the large group of anxious students up the stone staircase into the Entrance Hall.

McGonagall, who was standing just in front of the Great Hall dorms, had her stern facade on to full affect for the opening feast, as years of teaching had taught her how important it was to convey a strong first impression on new students.

She had to fight extra hard to keep the smile off her face at the sight of the 4 new students she had already had the pleasure of teaching, and the rather large pink ostrich with the words 'leave me alone – HP' written across the front. From the sight of Harry and Susan's grins it looked like they had recognized her tight lipped twitching as an attempt to hide a smile, meaning she would have to have to come down strong on them this year if she wanted to save face. The last thing she needed was to have a repeat of Sirius Black back at the castle.

"Thank you Hagrid I'll take it from here. Now Mr. Potter, while I feel I should commend you on your remarkable transfiguration skills, it is also necessary to reprimand you for using them on another student. You'll have detention with me tomorrow evening at seven. If you're late it will be for the rest of the week. Understood?"

At Harry's nod she reversed the spell on the student only to reveal a seething Draco Malfoy, spouting some threat about his father, and that Harry just chose the wrong person to become enemies with. However, McGonagall like Harry, just ignored him and turned to address the rest of the anxiously awaiting students, who were no doubt trying to figure out what they had to do to get sorted.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, the start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. I can tell you write now everything you've heard about the sorting is wrong, as the Founders have spelled the artifact so that you can't reveal the process to a minor that has yet to be sorted."

A few of the students breathed a sigh of release at this, thankful that they didn't have to fight some ghastly creature like a troll, while others began muttering amongst themselves once again. McGonagall was not too impressed with that, as she had to fire off a few sparks from her wand before she was able to once again gain their attention.

"If you could remain quiet, I would like to continue, the longer we wait out here the longer it will be before you can go inside," said McGonagall, looking down at the now ashamed faces of the new first years. The only ones that held her gaze were the four students that hadn't diverted their attention away from her since she had begun speaking. She had to smile at that. She knew they would certainly prove to be a handful, but she hoped they were placed in her house.

"Your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards, let's hope for more of the same."

A couple of the new first years turned to look at Harry at that last bit, but he did his best to keep his attention on the Professor, pointedly ignoring any whispers surrounding him.

"While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house you join." She then turned ducked back inside the Great Hall, leaving the students waiting outside in the Entrance Hall as a few harmless ghosts drifted by.

They seemed to scare a few of the students, most likely muggleborns that had never known about their existence before, but Harry wasn't really watching them at the moment, he was too busy eyeing Malfoy who was glaring at him and his friends with hatred.

He probably would have started a scene if he had the opportunity to, but before he could, Professor McGonagall stepped back into the Entrance Hall to lead them inside.

The Great Hall was lit up by thousands of floating candles against the bewitched ceiling that loomed over the 4 large tables filled with students that ran along the hall, leading up to the large raised table where the staff sat.

Beside him he heard Hermione trying to explain the phenomena to a girl with short brown hair, but she just looked at Hermione like something she would normally scrape off her shoe.

Harry really wasn't getting the best vibe from his fellow classmates. It seemed that a lot of them thought they were somehow superior to his friends. He'd have to find a way to put a stop to that.

At the front of the Hall, McGonagall stood over a large pointed hat that rested on a small stool. Harry really didn't know why the hell the hat was there, _that's got to be the ugliest, dirtiest hat I've ever seen_, thought Harry.

Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:

_'Oh, you may not think I'm pretty_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall, _

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head _

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong to Gryffindor, _

_Where dwell the brave at heart, _

_Their daring, nerve and chivalry _

_Set Gryffindor apart;_

_You might belong to Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal, _

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_ And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, _

_If you've a ready mind,_

_ Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends, _

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a thinking cap!'_

The whole hall burst into applause as McGonagall began to call out the names of the awaiting students for the sorting.

"Susan Bones."

Susan knew she should've had expected to go early, but she hadn't been prepared to be the first one! Flashing a nervous smile at her friends she hurried up to put on the sorting hat.

She knew her friends preferred Gryffindor, and that was likely the most suitable house for them too, so she had resolved to make it her personal mission to end up there too. Her aunt may have been a Hufflepuff, and while she personally felt there was nothing wrong with that house, she wanted to be with her friends.

When the hat finally did cry out Gryffindor, the four friends smiled to each other as Neville, Hermione and Harry furthered their resolve to join their friend in the house of lions.

A few more names later and it was Hermione's turn to be sorted. After squeezing her friend's hands as a show of support she hurried up to the stool to put on the hat.

It seemed to Harry and Neville that Hermione was having a conversation with the hat, as the two seemed to argue over something for a little while before the hat announced that Hermione too would be joining Susan in Gryffindor.

After another wave of kids had their names called and sorted into their new houses it was Neville's turn. His sorting took the longest yet, as the hat seemed to struggle with its decision before finally announcing him a Gryffindor. The applause for him was shortly cut out however as the hall erupted into laughter at the sight of the little boy who had forgot to take the hat off before running to his new table. He had to go back and return it before he could once again take his seat next to Hermione and Susan.

By this time the crowd of first years still waiting to be sorted was reduced to approximately half of their original size, and Harry had to duck in behind a tall dark skinned boy named Dean Thomas to avoid being recognized. Dean seemed understandable to his plight, and was actually pretty nice about not telling anyone about him, a lot more then he could say for the tall ginger beside him that just stood there watching him instead of the sorting. If there was ever a dead giveaway as to where Harry Potter was in the crowd that was it. Harry had to cast a mild compulsion charm on the boy before the youngest Weasley would leave him alone.

Finally after Malfoy had been sorted into Slytherin along with Pansy Parkinson, the Patil sisters had been split into Ravenclaw and Gryffindor and Sally Anne Perks had gone to Hufflepuff, it was Harry's turn.

The whole hall had been anxiously waiting for this name. It was obvious from the way they spent more time looking into the crowd of first years than they did watching the ceremony itself. Even the Professors had leaned forwards in their chairs to watch.

When Harry stepped forwards, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires over the hall.

"Is that him? Blimey there's not much of him."

"Better not let him hear that mate, he could probably blast you all the way to the Philippines from here."

"Bet he's a Gryffindor,"

"Aw he's so cute!"

"For Merlin's sake Brittany he's eleven! Get your head out of the gutter."

"Can you see his scar?"

"All I can see is his hair."

"Do you think he could show me a few spell casting tips? You know with O.W.L.S and everything this year."

"I reckon he could probably show Dumbledore a few tips."

There was even a small first year girl that distinctly whispered the words, "I love you," as Harry sat down on the stool in front of McGonagall to be sorted.

The whole scene was ridiculous; he'd never wanted to laugh so hard in his life.

Taking care to give Professor McGonagall a small smile, Harry sat down on the stool and waited for her to place the hat on top of his head. The last thing he saw was a hall full of people craning their necks to get a better look at him, before his vision was blocked out by the inside of the hat that had slipped down to the bridge of his nose.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes. You are undoubtedly much stronger than any of your peers, and yet, you have no desire to showcase it. Interesting, interesting, you would do well in any house, but where to put you?"

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, 'Not Slytherin, not Slytherin.'

'Not Slytherin, eh?' said the small voice. 'Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that – no? Humph, Stubborn too aren't we? Yes now I see it, somehow doesn't surprise me that it would be your house of preference. Been that way in your family ever since I was born. Better be Gryffindor!'

Smiling to himself at the thought that he would be with his friends in his parent's old house, Harry put down the hat and walked over to the Gryffindor table.

He was well aware that he had received the largest cheer yet, but he chose to ignore it as best he could, having assumed such a reception for the boy-who-lived. He couldn't however ignore his friend's antics who had joined two identical red heads in jumping up and down on the bench chanting 'We got Potter! We got Potter!'

From his new seat next to Hermione across from Neville and Susan, Harry could see the front table and the rest of the sorting clearly. He watched as Dean Thomas also joined the house of lions, Lisa Turpin was sorted into Ravenclaw, and Ron was placed in Gryffindor. It seemed to Harry as if all of the Weasleys were in Gryffindor, given that the twins and his older brother (prefect Percy – as he had introduced himself) were all also in Gryffindor.

With the sorting done as Blaise Zabini went to join the rest of the Slytherin's, Harry turned his attention back to the staff table. He quickly recognized Hagrid (the large gamekeeper that he had gotten to know on the walk up to the castle) along with Professor's McGonagall, Flitwick and Dumbledore who had all helped with his teachings before he came to Hogwarts.

The two staff members who stuck out however were the greasy looking man dressed in black, sitting at the far end of the table, and the man sitting next to him with a large purple turban. His mother had told him that the first man was Severus Snape, an old friend of hers before and during school that she had fallen out of favour with. When he questioned what had happened his father and Sirius had wasted no time describing in detail what a git 'Snivellus' was, and that he was likely to have a grudge against Harry, because of what had happened back in their days at school.

Almost as if he could tell that Harry was looking in his direction, Snape turned his head to focus on the little bi-spectacled boy with jet-black hair, and piercing green eyes. Those same green eyes that he had dreamed about since the day he first saw them. Suddenly Harry felt an intense pain in his scar, as images of him playing and training with his family rushed through his mind. Realizing what was happening, Harry hastened to raise his occlumency shields to push the foreign presence out of his mind. When he did so he noticed that Snape wasn't the only one who seemed to recoil in their seat ever so slightly, as Professor Quirrell seemed to grab at his turban as if he was worried it would fall off, if he didn't hold on. Choosing to ignore the strange behaviour of the two teachers Harry turned his attention to the Headmaster, who was just getting out of his seat to address the Hall.

After Dumbledore's opening words the students were able to enjoy the delicious feast prepared for them.

Harry, Neville and Ron absolutely devoured the food in front of them, much to the disgust of Hermione and Susan, who both chose to eat at a much more leisurely pace. They didn't know if they should be pleased or revolted that both Harry and Neville were at least able to remember their table manners, whereas Ron simply proceeded to stuff his face, often spilling food on the table or worse, on the people sitting next to him.

A few of the other first years began talking amongst themselves, mostly about things like what their parents did, what their favourite hobby was, what Quidditch team they supported, or how cool it was that they were in the same house as Harry Potter.

However, no matter how hard they tried to involve the four in conversation, Harry and his friends were hesitant to give out any answers, especially concerning their previous living conditions.

Before the group knew it, Dumbledore had given his closing words, warning them of the Forbidden Forest and the 3rd floor corridor, and that classes would begin in 3 days.

As night fell on the Scottish highlands castle, the 300+ students stood to sing the school song, before parting ways to head off to their house dormitories.

The Gryffindor first-years were being led by Percy Weasley through the maze of interweaving magical staircases, up to the 7th floor of the castle where they would find the Gryffindor common room to take their leave for the night.

After saying goodnight to Susan and Hermione, Neville and Harry headed up the stairs of the boy's dormitories to get a good night sleep.

When they reached the first years room, a large circular room that housed 5 poster beds for each of the new first years, they quickly found their own before taking their trunks out of their pocket and enlarging them so they could unpack.

After hanging their gowns on the railing surrounding the heater in the center of the room, they headed into the bathroom to brush their teeth and get ready for bed.

Deciding they would call their parents tomorrow when they weren't so tired, and the girls were available to join them, the two headed off to bed after saying a brief goodnight to their fellow dorm-mates; Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, and Ron Weasley, all of whom still couldn't believe they were sharing a dorm with Harry Potter.

* * *

While Harry and his friends were each preparing for bed, a seething Draco Malfoy was ranting in the Slytherin Common Room about Harry Potter to anyone who would listen.

His father had warned him that the two would be in the same year as each other at Hogwarts, and had even urged him to befriend the lad and open him up to their way of thinking.

That plan was long out the window now though, Draco wanted revenge.

He had never been so humiliated in his life. Potter had made him into a laughing stock in front of the whole student body. Any dreams of becoming the prince of his year had taken a serious hit, and only his family name was enough to maintain his deserved treatment in the house of snakes.

He would get Potter back for what he did; it would only be a matter of when.

* * *

Sleep didn't come easy however for the Gryffindor Golden boy. His dreams were haunted by weird images of the hat telling him he had been sorted into the wrong house, that his proper place was in Slytherin. At one point he was even attacked by Professor Quirrell's turban.

Undisturbed by any of this, the other four boys in the room continued to sleep while their dorm mate tossed and turned under the covers, sweating buckets, with his face scrunched up in frustration.


	14. Life at Hogwarts

The next morning Harry awoke in his sweat-stained bed to the sounds of loud snoring filling the room. Sparing a glance over at the sleeping Ron, he wondered how anyone could possibly make such noises in their sleep. Deciding he wasn't likely going to be able to get any more sleep he decided to get washed up, re-make his bed, and head down to the common room, to maybe do some reading before breakfast.

When he finally did get down to the common room he was amused to see that it wasn't empty as he had expected, because Hermione was sprawled out on a large sofa in front of the fire, with numerous books lying all around her, and Crookshanks playing with a ball of yarn in front of her.

"Hey Hermione, let me guess? You couldn't figure out which book to focus on, so you decided to read them all," said Harry as he slouched down onto the couch beside her.

Hermione just smiled at the voice of her best friend, though her eyes never left the text in front of her. "Good morning to you too Harry. And how could I? There's so much to learn, I just can't decide which subject deserves the most of my attention."

"Yeah" responded Harry. "It's a good thing we had lessons before we came here, so we're prepared for just about anything. I'm just looking forward to being able to continue learning magic, especially how to do it the 'proper-way' as the parents always say."

Hermione just grinned at her friend, who although could perform any spell effortlessly, struggled to grasp the notions of incantations and correct wand-movements, choosing instead to perform the spell either wandlessly or silently.

"Yeah well not all of us mere mortals can be like the great Harry Potter. Forgive us for our insistence of having to follow the rules of magic, not all of us are exempt from it."

Harry just snorted at his friend's sarcasm, causing Hermione to burst out in a fit of giggles.

"Hermione Granger, giggling! I'd never thought I'd see the day!" exclaimed a voice from behind the pair.

"Good morning to you too Susan, and may I say I'm as surprised as you are. Perhaps our resident book-worm here spent too many hours reading and not enough sleeping."

Hermione just stuck her tongue out at Harry, a gesture that only confirmed his observation.

"How about you make yourself useful and go wake Neville, then we can head down to breakfast early so we can call the family after we've eaten. I hope you don't mind but I sent a letter to my Aunt last night with Hedwig, letting them know that they should expect a call from us in the morning as I'm sure they're dying to know how the sorting went."

"Wait, when did you have time last night to visit Hedwig in the Owlery?" said Harry, looking at her confused.

Susan just grinned as she made a show of closing up a few of Hermione's books so she had a place to sit down on the couch, forcing a disgruntled Hermione to make room to accommodate her. It was nothing new really, almost a routine of the two, as Hermione was always leaving books all over their room back at the Manor.

"I didn't, I just started writing the letter and then next thing I know she is standing on the perch outside our window waiting for me," said Susan proudly.

"Yea the only problem is that you left the window open for so long you turned our room into a freezer," said Hermione, still not looking up from her History of Magic textbook.

"Whatever, the point is Hedwig's a lot smarter than you think. It's almost like she can communicate with us," said Susan.

"I knew that," defended Harry. "I was just under the illusion that I was the only one who could speak with her."

"Wait you can speak with her," said Hermione, suddenly becoming more interested in this topic as she closed up her textbook, and pulled herself up to sit properly on the couch.

"Yeah! It's weird, sometimes I get little flashes of what she's feeling or where she is, but other than that I can ask her stuff and she'll answer me," supplied Harry with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Sounds like a familiar bond," said Susan, "though that wouldn't explain how she knew I was intending to deliver a letter."

"Wait what's a familiar bond?" questioned Hermione, eager to learn something she didn't know.

"It's a kind of bond between a wizard and their pet. They're pretty rare but they can be darn useful," said Susan. "I used to have one with this old Doberman that my family had, but it passed away when I was only six years old."

"I wonder if I could have one with Crookshanks?" speculated Hermione, looking down at the large ginger monster in front of her.

"Who knows, but I'd be willing to bet that it's more likely than Neville having one with Trevor," joked Harry.

Susan just rolled her eyes and shooed him off to go wake their other friend, while Hermione attempted to play with her cat.

"Aright, but I'm warning you," said Harry, pulling himself up off the couch as slowly as humanly possible. "With the snores coming from the first year dorm, opening that door will most likely wake everyone in the boy's quarters."

"Oh please," said Susan dramatically, "boys can sleep through explosions, I highly doubt a little snoring could wake you guys up."

"That was one time," said Harry in frustration, knowing that his friend was referring to the events of Halloween, 1981. "I was a baby for Merlin's sake, will you give that a rest or am I going to have to live with that for the rest of my life."

At this all three friends burst into laughter at their antics, before Harry clambered up the stairs to wake up Neville, leaving behind Hermione and Susan to busy themselves tossing the ball of yarn for Crookshanks to jump and claw at.

* * *

After a quick breakfast of sausages, toast and eggs, the four friends hurried back to their dormitories to grab the magic mirrors the Marauders had given each of them, before racing off to find an empty class-room to call their family in private.

Attaching the four mirrors together as the Marauders had shown them, they were able to make one large mirror where all four of them could look through easily. Hermione then proceeded to place a temporary sticking charm on the back of the mirror so that she could attach it to the wall, while the other three pulled up chairs so they could sit down for what was sure to be a long conversation.

The faces of the Potters, Longbottoms, Grangers, Amelia, Sirius and Remus jumped up on the screen almost immediately as if they were already crowding around their mirrors just waiting for the call.

"So how did it go?" asked an anxious Emma Granger.

"You didn't have too much trouble on the train, I hope" asked Lily.

"Who cares about the train, how did the sorting go? Are we looking at Gryffindor's finest, or did one of the other houses steal the pride of this year's draft class," joked James.

"Now kids you know we'd be proud of you wherever you ended up, we're just glad that you're still together," responded Alice.

"Enough about that, how many rules have you broken yet?" asked Sirius.

"Yes I do hope none of you have gotten a detention with McGonagall yet," chastised Lily., as Sirius made a show of putting his hands together and praying behind her back.

Harry just hung his head at this last comment as Susan tried her best to hide her giggles at her friend's situation.

"Um... I might have got a detention from McGonagall for turning Draco Malfoy into an Ostrich on the train."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the mirror, before James and Sirius burst out laughing and exchanged a high-five and a loud whoop of pride, with Remus failing to conceal a small smile of approval.

"He broke the record old Jamesie boy! Detention before he even got sorted! I'm so proud," exclaimed Sirius.

James, Clarissa and Remus just laughed at this, while Lily tried to reign in control of the situation.

"Harry we told you that you have to control yourself".

"I know mom, but everyone kept coming in to our compartment uninvited, and all they cared about was making friends with the famous boy-who-lived. Malfoy even expected me to shake his hand after he insulted my friends. I had to put a stop to it somehow, and they weren't taking any hints when we asked them to leave."

"Well I hope you should understand that you can't just go around transfiguring kids into animals, even if I do agree that it was right for you to stand up for yourself and your friends."

"It won't happen again mom, I promise" said Harry, crossing his fingers behind his back. It seemed to work on his mother as she looked appeased, but from the grins on the Marauders faces, they knew that wasn't a promise Harry would be keeping.

"Okay now can you tell us which house you guys got sorted in, we're dying to know over here," said Alice.

Neville just grinned at this before answering, "You're looking at the 4 newest members of the house of lions."

There were loud whoops of joy, congratulations and several "we're so proud of you", coming from each of the adults as the kids just laughed before describing what the hat had said to them when they were on the stool.

It didn't really surprise anyone when Susan described that for her, it was between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, as they had assumed as much given her attitude and family lineage. In the end her unwavering devotion to her friends, proved that her loyalty was only reserved for those who earned it and that she had what it takes to stand tall in the line of fire. Thereby allowing Gryffindor to win out over Hufflepuff.

Neville explained his shock when the hat had said that it was prepared to place him in Gryffindor almost as soon as it came in contact with him, and that he actually had a conversation with it asking why that was, as he was apparently expecting Hufflepuff.

The most obvious was Hermione's declaration that for her, it had been between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, as her love of knowledge was only too well known throughout the family. Apparently her courage and determination to stand up for what was right, outmatched her intelligence and drive to learn, earning her a spot in the house of lions.

What did come as quite a shocker for the family was to learn that the hat had tried to convince Harry that Slytherin was the house for him. He described the hat's claim that 'Slytherin would help him on the way to greatness', but also said that once he took into account that he had no desire to stand above everyone else, the hat had no choice but to put him in Gryffindor. This was something that greatly pleased the family, as Harry had chosen his friends over the promise of power. It was just another reminder that even though Harry might have suffered a side effect of Voldemort's killing curse that Halloween, he was still the Harry Potter they knew and loved.

After the parents had explained a little about what had happened back at home, Harry took the opportunity to talk about the pain he had felt in his scar that he got from when he locked eyes with Professor Snape.

This had the instantaneous result of turning James, Amelia, Remus and Sirius's faces of joy into one's of sheer anger, whereas Lily, and the Longbottoms now wore looks of concern and worry. They quickly explained to the confused Grangers that Snape had attempted to invade Harry's mind, an act that was illegal to use on a student without permission.

When Amelia offered that she could present a case against Severus, if the kids could gather more evidence against the man, Harry was quick to put an end to the ugly conversation choosing instead to give the man the benefit of the doubt given the history between him and Harry's family. He didn't tell them that he also wasn't fully convinced it had been Snape given Professor Quirrell's reaction from being evicted out of his mind. Besides, if anything he wanted the pleasure in confronting the man himself.

This seemed to please Lily, but it was easy to tell from the looks of disgust on James and Sirius's faces that they didn't agree with the decision.

After that, the conversation quickly turned to a more pleasant one, with the kids describing what they were supposed to learn in their lessons, their course schedule and what living in the castle was like.

When they explained they were having difficulty finding their way through the castle, the parents just grinned at the children and told them, "that's part of the fun of Hogwarts", exploring its secrets. They did however tell the children the way to get to both the Great Hall and the Library from the Gryffindor Common Room, but remained firm that if they wanted to know about the numerous secret passages of the school they would either have to recover the Marauder's Map or explore the castle themselves, because they weren't about to disclose such information and ruin any of the kids fun.

The conversation carried on for another 30 minutes or so with the parents telling them stories of each of the Professors during their time at Hogwarts, before the kids had to get ready for a meeting with the Headmaster.

After saying goodbye and promising to call again after their first day of classes the group of four headed off to find their way to the gargoyle that marked the entrance of Dumbledore's office.

After discovering that they were completely lost 20 minutes later, the group had the good fortune to bump into Professor Flitwick who agreed to lead them to the Headmaster's office, saying that it was quite easy to get lost in the castle if you didn't know your way. This of course just furthered Harry's resolve to find the map, and maybe take a few strolls in his father's invisibility cloak to better familiarize himself with his new home.

After a rather short meeting where the Headmaster asked them a few questions about their family and how they found living at the castle so far, the group of 4 headed down to the Great Hall for lunch, but not before Harry told the Headmaster about the pain he felt in his scar at the opening feast. He didn't seem too be bothered by it, only promising to have a word with Severus on the matter, but when Harry confided that him raising his Occlumency shields had gotten a reaction out of Quirrell too, that quickly changed. The old man's eyes seemed to stop twinkling at this revelation, and a momentary flash of fear crossed his face, before the color quickly returned and he resumed his rather jovial look. However if the kids had paid more attention, they would have noticed neither the Headmaster nor the Head of Slytherin chose to attend lunch, that day, instead fretting over the security regarding the artifact that was currently hidden away on the third floor, and the mystery behind Quirrell's strange behavior.

* * *

The next day at dinner was the first day where the owl post would be delivered to the students during the year. None of the four were expecting to receive a delivery, as they had just spoken to the family the day before, but that didn't stop Hedwig from making an appearance.

"Hey girl, what you got there?" said Harry, as he moved to untie the letter from his familiars outstretched leg, while Susan and Hermione busied themselves feeding the snowy owl bits of their breakfast.

"What does the letter say Harry?" asked Neville, leaning over so that he could read it too.

Harry opened the note to reveal a scratchy written letter written by Hagrid asking them to come to tea the following afternoon.

Smiling at the chance to make acquaintance with the man his parents spoke so highly of, he scribbled down a quick affirmative reply, before attaching the letter to the owl's legs, and informing his friends of their plans for the next day.

* * *

"Harry! It's great to see you again!" boomed the giant man as he took in the sight of the 4 kids at his door. "Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you at the sorting. You've certainly grown since the last time I saw ya! You look more and more like your father every day. Except your eyes, you've got your mother's eyes. Your parent's are great people Harry, two of the very few friends I had at Hogwarts when I first started working here, it shook me up something awful when Dumbledore informed me of the attack in Godric's Hollow that Halloween."

The kids just exchanged uncomfortable glances. They were hoping to talk about more cheerful things during their visit, maybe even try some of the gamekeepers cooking that Frank and Alice had raved about.

"Uh, Hagrid… I don't mean to be rude, but can we talk about something else. I'm still not really comfortable on that topic," said Harry, eyeing the big black dog that was drooling over a steak in the corner of the room.

"Of course, of course. Are you going to introduce me to your friends? I recognize Neville over here, looks just like his parents, he does. But who are these fine young ladies you have with you?"

Hermione tried to put her head-down to hide her blush, but Harry was not about to let such a moment go to tease his friends.

Bowing to each of the girls, Harry made a big show of introducing them to Hagrid, knowing that Neville would play along.

"That would be the lovely Ms. Susan Bones and Ms. Hermione Granger. Neville and I have been ever so fortunate as to have not scared them off yet."

Never one to miss a beat, Neville piped in with his own two cents on the matter. "Personally I think they'll come to their senses eventually and leave us in the dust, but for the time being they seem content with our company."

Susan just smacked Harry on the arm, as Hermione rolled her eyes at the boys and apologized to Hagrid about their immature behavior, with the half-giant smiling and standing back to welcome them into his home.

They enjoyed quiet conversation for over an hour, even complimenting the man on his less-then-edible rock cakes. They should've known the parents had been pulling their legs about Hagrid's cooking skills, but they had foolishly made the mistake that because it was Frank, and Alice describing them, and not someone like Sirius, that they had been telling the truth.

As Hagrid was busy assuring Neville that Professor Snape meant no harm, Harry took the opportunity to let his eyes wonder around his new friends home.

If he was being honest with himself, there really wasn't much of it, but what he could see was both well used, and well taken care for. In fact, just about everything in the hut looked like Hagrid had had taken the time to make it himself.

The bed was custom made out of tree branches for the frame, and layers of animal pelt for blankets, while the table, chairs, desk, and drawers were all carved out of wood that had most likely come from the Forbidden forest.

There were a few pictures hanging around the hut, most of them of Hagrid with some crazy animal or former student at the school. What amazed him was the fact that there didn't seem to be a single book in the place, but then again, Hagrid didn't strike him as much of a scholar. It seemed that the only written thing in the whole hut, was a small little newspaper cut out that lay on top of the desk on the far wall.

Seeing that his friends were still discussing animatedly with Hagrid about their new Professors, Harry walked over to look at the article. He didn't expect it to be much, but his eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline when he first laid eyes on it.

It was a newspaper cut out from the Daily Prophet, dated August 8th and it read,

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

_ Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on July 31__st__, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. _

_Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day._

_'But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you,' said a Gringotts' spokes goblin this afternoon._

"Guys it says here there was a break-in at Gringotts the day we were at Diagon Alley!" exclaimed Harry, missing the look of alarm that crossed Hagrid's face.

"Really?" asked Hermione, "What did they take?"

"Nothing, apparently the vault was emptied earlier that day," said Harry.

"Aye, good thing Dumbledore sent me when he did, could have been a lot worse," whispered Hagrid under his breath, before he even realized what he had said.

Four heads whipped around to question the friendly giant, but Hagrid refused to answer any of the questions the kids directed at him as to the contents of the vault, only saying that it didn't concern them, and was something for the grown-ups to worry about.

"But how could someone break into Gringotts? It's the safest place on earth," asked Neville.

Hagrid just grumbled at this, but because of his size and the loudness of his voice it was easy to make out his response of, "Hogwarts is safer."

After another ten minutes or so of pestering the gamekeeper for information, it didn't seem that Hagrid was up to asking any more questions the group had for him, and so after saying goodbye and thank-you for the tea and rock-cakes the four friends headed back up to the castle.

"So what do you guys think that was all about?" asked Susan.

"I don't know, but I'm betting whatever was in that vault is now in Hogwarts. If Hagrid was the one to move it, and he says the only place safer then Gringotts is Hogwarts, then it only makes sense that he brought it here. Especially if you factor in that he only did it on Dumbledore's orders," said Harry.

"I bet that's why the 3rd floor corridor is forbidden this year!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Yeah, but who could these Dark Wizards or Witches unknown be?" asked Neville. "We haven't heard anything about escaped death eaters or anything. They'd have to be pretty strong to be able to break into Gringotts and not get caught."

"You don't think it was Voldemort do you?" said Hermione nervously.

Harry shook his head. "No if he was in the Alley that day, I'm sure he would've tried to attack me or something. It was probably someone like Malfoy Sr. that got never got chucked in jail after the last war."

No one in the group seemed to have an answer for this so they simply headed off to the Great Hall to get some food, before going back to the common room to enjoy their last day of no classes.

* * *

The next few days were extremely draining on the young students, as they had to cope with the beginning of classes and the unwanted attention surrounding them.

While they had been looking forward to the start of term tremendously, they were once again disappointed to have their hopes dashed.

It wasn't that the teachers were bad or anything, it was just a little frustrating to have to learn something that they already knew. On top of that, they were assigned homework in just about all their classes. The worst part however, was that classes only presented the perfect opportunity for Harry Potter fanfare to manifest.

As the first year Gryffindor schedule became public knowledge to the rest of the school, students began to follow them along the castle, desperate to get the latest scoop on Harry Potter and his three best friends.

It got to the point where it was so bad that Hermione could only study peacefully in the deepest corners of the library, because anywhere else she was bothered by girls who would either berate her with questions about Harry Potter or would make snide remarks about how she wasn't good enough to be around him all the time. It wasn't much better with the boys of the school either as they frequently made fun of her looks, or her intelligence.

Although they didn't have it as bad as Hermione, it was no walk in the park for the other three kids either. Harry couldn't seem to go anywhere without having a posy of unwanted students following him around pretending to be his best friends. It got so frustrating that he tended to spend any spare time he had in his trunk or dawning his invisibility cloak whenever he had to wander the castle.

Susan seemed to get off the easiest out of the group, but whether people were leaving her alone because of her aunt or because they just didn't care for her, she wouldn't know, and quite frankly she didn't care, she was just annoyed at the waves of students who frolicked around Harry, and were the cause of the growing distance between the 4 kids.

It seemed there was no escaping it, even in classes they were berated by their fellow students, as everyone seemed to be in some sort of competition to be Harry Potter's best friend. More than once she had felt the urge to hex Ron Weasley, who seemed the most determined to become Harry's best friend. The idiot would rant to anyone who would listen about some ridiculous made up tale about how close the two were. Just the thought of these types of people wanting to make friends only to steal a part of Harry's fame, irked her sense of loyalty to no end. She really didn't care for the youngest Weasley, and promised herself that she wouldn't let him or anyone else ruin her friendship with the others.

There were literally races in the mornings to get the extra seat beside Harry in the Great Hall. It was bloody ridiculous.

In class Harry tried his best to draw limited attention to himself, choosing not to speak up to answer questions unless directly asked, and to never be the first to perform any spell, choosing instead to help his friends if they had any problems. This of course only gave students like Ron Weasley the impression that people like Neville Longbottom were holding Harry back, and only earned Neville the reputation of being a squib.

They tried their best not to let it bother them, but it was obvious it was driving a wedge between the tightly knitted group.

The parents themselves were starting to get really worried, as they listened to their children describe the treatment they were receiving from their fellow students, but no amount of pressure from McGonagall seemed to be able to sway the student body from their treatment towards Harry Potter and his friends.

Sadly, with little they could do to help the kids, the parents were left to watch them retreat into themselves, as old insecurities that had previously been quashed, reared their ugly heads.

Susan went from the fun easy-going girl who loved to laugh and play, into the quiet nervous girl who refrained from speaking out.

Neville was the same. He transformed from a confident, well-mannered and polite boy into a shy little boy who completely lacked confidence, and let people walk all over him, instead of standing up for himself like he used to.

Harry of course blamed himself for all of this. Where he was once the reserved but strong leader of the group, now it seemed as if he distancing himself away from the other 3 as an attempt to spare them the attention that they received whenever they were with him. He never realized that this attention just turned hurtful whenever he wasn't around.

Perhaps the biggest change however was in Hermione. Where she once was the calm, relaxed girl who was comfortable with who she was, now she was a very insecure girl who was scared of her peers. She had completely reversed the transformation she had undergone when she first made friends with Harry and Neville, and was now back to the little shy insecure girl who was bullied in school for speaking out. Of course it didn't help that, as an attempt to prove herself, Hermione chose to speak out more, answering as many questions as possible in class, and coming off as a bit of a bossy know-it-all.

It seemed that no matter what the group tried the treatment towards them only got worse, as the 4 friends actually distanced themselves away from each other, to spare themselves of further ridicule.

They even started hanging out with different people, as Hermione started spending more of her time with the other muggleborns in the school (particularly a pair of Hufflepuffs named Justin Finch-Fletchy and Sally Anne-Perks), Susan spent most of her time with Lavender and Parvati (the other two Gryffindor first year girls) and Neville spent a lot of his time with Dean Thomas, another shy but nice first year.

It seemed as if it was the ending of a very close friendship, and it broke the parents' hearts to watch their children do so. It really did look as if it was going to take something drastic to change things around for the mini-Marauders, as years of sheltering and nourishing care seemed to evaporate leaving behind 4 deeply disturbed children.

They could only hope that this behavior reversed quickly, before these insecurities were allowed to further develop.


	15. Potions & Flying Lessons

The next couple weeks saw the treatment towards the group only manifest.

Classes continued in the same light, where the group would try their best to sit and work together but this didn't always work out as the teachers frequently split them up to help out those classmates that were struggling with the material.

They weren't too happy about this, as it usually meant that they would have to sit with someone who wasn't willing to put in the effort to learn like Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnegan, Parvarti Patil, or heaven forbid, Crabbe and Goyle.

Their unfortunate seating arrangements aside, the kids didn't mind their lessons too much. They weren't really much of a challenge considering they had spent over a year doing private lessons with several teachers before attending the school, but going over the material did have its benefits. They even managed to learn a few things they missed the first time around.

As was the case before they started at Hogwarts, they each had their own favourite classes. Hermione thoroughly enjoyed both charms and transfiguration; as her two favourite teachers taught them, though found that both History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts were disappointments. While the subject had been fascinating when she studied it before Hogwarts, the two lousy teachers that taught each subject had ruined her impression of the courses. Professor Quirrell was completely hopeless as a DADA teacher, as the man was practically scared of his own shadow, and his constant stuttering made it very difficult to listen to what he had to say. Professor Binns was if anything, worse. His lectures were so boring that more than half the class would fall asleep as soon as the ghost began talking. Even Hermione was finding it difficult to pay attention to him drone on and on about goblin rebellions, but she refused to let herself fall asleep like everyone else.

Harry, Neville, and Susan also didn't seem to mind the classes, and though they complained about Quirrell and Binns, it was their potions professor that really got on their nerves.

It seemed that for every Potions lesson, the teacher would simply put the instructions on the board before scowling at the rest of the non-Slytherin students.

He frequently favoured the Slytherin's, especially Malfoy, going so far as to help them make their potions while ridiculing any students from other houses that made any mistakes.

For their first lesson with Professor Snape, he had spent the first 10 minutes, mocking the class's 'new celebrity' and proceeding to berate Harry with questions well beyond the level of the first year course. He wasn't able to answer most of them, but he did manage to successfully answer a few of the questions, thanks to his mother's teachings.

The particular thing about this exercise was that Snape didn't seem to be pleased when Harry correctly answered a question, instead choosing to smirk when he failed to do so. After deciding that he had given the boy a proper dressing down, he proceeded to write the instructions on the board before going back to watching Potter.

It was like this almost every class, and it was completely creepy. One moment Snape would be sneering at him, and the next he'd be staring at him as if he was his long-lost son or something.

Snape would constantly punish Harry and his friends, blaming them for virtually anything that went wrong in his class, even if they were in no way responsible for the incident. Malfoy was usually the main perpetrator of such events, as he took the greatest pleasure in tampering with other people's potions and then watch, as Snape would blame Harry.

After yet another 'accident', where Ron Weasley's cauldron exploded, drenching both him and his partner Seamus Finnegan in a thick green sludge that melted their hair, while still managing to get a decent splash on quite a few of the other Gryffindor first years, Harry swore he'd get his revenge on Malfoy.

The only thing that kept him from knocking the little ferret's face in was the fact that Madame Pomphrey was able to reverse all side effects of the potion with ease, and by dinner time that day, all of the Gryffindors had their hair back to normal.

* * *

Snape sat there behind his desk continuing to observe the boy as he diced his asphodel roots with the precision of someone possessing a potion's mastery.

The boy wasn't at all like he had expected. He was quiet and reserved, almost the complete opposite of his father. He didn't react to being punished, and he never spoke out of turn. In fact, the only thing that let him know that his treatment affected the boy at all was the passion that burned behind his eyes when he looked at them, the same passion he had seen in only one other person. _Perhaps there was some of Lily Evans in him after all_, thought Snape.

The thing that astounded him however was that this child obviously possessed a level of skill with magic, and even showed an adequacy in his potion's class, and yet he never tried to show-off for any of his perplexing powers, choosing instead to help others around him, or remain to himself. It was fascinating. Here was the mere image of his life-long enemy, his flesh and blood, and yet he had never seen someone more like his darling Lily in his life. He didn't know if he should hate or admire the boy, and for the life of him he couldn't make up his mind.

He knew that the Potter boy was responsible for the fact that Lily Evans was still alive today, and while a part of him wanted to grovel at his feet because of it, another wanted to scream at him for even existing.

Just looking at the boy was painful for him, and yet at the same time, he couldn't stop himself. He was almost a carbon copy of his father, with the only physical feature from his mother side being those brilliant emerald eyes.

* * *

_That stupid tosser_, thought Harry as he imagined thoroughly hexing the life out of the pompous blonde-haired boy who had just spent another charms class making fun of Hermione for being the first to perform the colour-changing spell.

He couldn't stand the boy, but every time he tried to interfere a quick glare from Hermione told him otherwise. He didn't know what he could do to help, as Hermione had made him swear to let her handle it on her own. The first time he had tried to step in, only resulted in three third year Slytherin's having to spend a few nights in the infirmary while Harry lost 50 points and had to spend a week with Filch cleaning the bathrooms without magic. He didn't care though; he wouldn't hesitate to do it again if he ever caught another student trying to hurt his friends. That was what really bothered him. He could tell the bullying was bugging his best friend, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, and yet there didn't seem to be anything he could do to put a stop to it.

It didn't matter if his parent's told him otherwise; Harry strongly believed this was his fault. There was no way his friends would be on the receiving end of such hurtful behavior if it weren't for the bloody legend of the boy-who-lived. He hated that stupid story, every time someone asked him if he remembered anything from that night, or if they could see his scar, he felt like hexing the idiot.

_I seriously need something to calm me down, I'm losing it here_, thought Harry as he trudged into the Gryffindor common room.

He couldn't help but notice the group of anxious first year students gathered around the bulletin board at the far end of the room. As he walked up he spotted Neville amongst the other boys and quickly pulled him aside.

"Neville what's the big commotion, I've never seen Ron read that thing all year. Come to think about it, I've never seen him read anything this year…"

"It's a notice, we're supposed to have our first flying lesson on Friday," said Neville, looking more than a little nervous at the prospect of having to be on a broom again.

Harry immediately brightened up at the notion that he would get to fly. It always served as a great stress-reliever, and the feeling of freedom that you got from having the wind in your hair as you soar through the skies was Harry's favorite.

"Really that's great!" exclaimed Harry.

"Maybe for you. You're a great flyer, but for the rest of us we get to make fun of ourselves in front of the Slytherin's. I bet Malfoy would just love to see me fall off a broom or something."

"Neville that won't happen. Have some faith in yourself. If you set your mind to something and believe that you can do it, it's a lot easier to accomplish it than doubting yourself. Besides if that lesson doesn't go so well, I promise I'll give you some extra lessons on the side. We'll have you flying rings around Malfoy in no time."

Neville just smiled unsurely at his friend, "Thanks Harry, but I don't know. I'm rubbish at flying, I could never get the hang of it when we were younger no matter how many times my dad got me on a broom, what makes you think Friday will be any different?"

Harry just smiled at his shy friend's discomfort. "Because I believe in you Neville. And I know that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to. Don't let anything Malfoy says get to you, you're worth ten of him. The stupid git is all talk, he's completely harmless, why do you think he has to have his two cronies follow him around wherever he goes?"

"I guess you're right," said Neville, a small smile growing on his face. "Thanks for believing in me Harry, it means a lot."

"Yeah well, who else would I put my faith in besides my best mate," said Harry as he clapped him on the back, and the two headed off to their dorms.

* * *

On Friday morning Harry and Neville woke early and headed down for breakfast before any of their other dorm-mates awoke. They were very happy to see that Susan and Hermione were both already awake and sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Morning girls, excited for this afternoon's flying lesson?" asked Harry as he approached his two friends.

Hermione let out a very un-lady like snort at this comment and closed her copy of _Quidditch through the Ages_ causing Susan to giggle and respond, "I don't think so Harry, as you can tell flying's not really our thing."

"Oh come on, you'll do fine," said Harry, helping himself to a plate of bacon, and scrambled eggs.

Their conversation took a quick turn after that however, when a large brown owl flew down and landed on Neville's shoulder.

"Who's the package from Neville?" asked Susan as she looked at the small box attached to the owl's left leg.

"It's from my Gran," said Neville as he read through the quick note. Hurriedly he ripped open the package to reveal a small crystal ball.

"Oh! I've read about those, it's a Remembrall. It's supposed to turn red whenever you forget something, to let you know what you forgot," said Hermione in her lecture tone of voice.

However before they could examine it, they were interrupted by Malfoy and his two cronies making a rather unwelcome appearance at the Gryffindor table, as the blonde bully snatched the shiny red ball right out of Neville's grasp.

Harry and Susan jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"What's going on here?" asked McGonagall in a very demanding tone of voice.

Neville was only too happy to see a teacher intervene to break up this confrontation. He knew Malfoy was no match for Harry, but he was sure Snape wouldn't hesitate to hand out a very generous amount of detentions against him. It was with that train of thought that he quickly told McGonagall about the situation allowing her to put an end to it.

Scowling Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table, and sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

* * *

At three thirty that afternoon, Harry, Neville, Hermione, Susan and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps into the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. They could hear the sharp voice of their teacher, Madam Hooch, "Well, what are you waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. It was nothing like the set of Cleansweep 7's his family used back at the Manor. These things were probably still in commission before his parents were born.

Beside him, his three best friends were looking as nervous as ever, as neither of them were very comfortable with heights, and it didn't help that they would be doing so on brooms that looked like they would fall apart mid-flight. Harry made a promise right then and there that he would talk to his dad about purchasing a new set of practice brooms for Hogwarts. These old ones needed to be thrown out.

However, he was slightly appeased when his broom immediately jumped into his hand when he called it, even if it was the only one that did so. Susan and Hermione's brooms had simply rolled over on the ground and Neville's hadn't moved at all. It didn't surprise him that his friends were struggling. His dad had told him that a broom could sense the hesitancy in their master's voice. The definite quiver in Neville's voice said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground, preventing him from properly controlling the broom. It was a problem they had tried to address when James, Frank, and Sirius had first taught them how to fly, but none of his friends had yet to overcome it.

Glancing around at the rest of the class, Harry saw that Malfoy already had his broom in his hand and was busy laughing at Ron Weasley when the boy's broom hit him in the face.

Harry felt his stomach tighten at that. He couldn't wait for an opportunity to bring the bully down a notch.

After everyone had finally gotten their brooms up and were shown how to mount it properly it was time to fly. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle – three – two – "

But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle – twelve feet – twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and – WHAM – a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap.

Harry, Hermione, and Susan rushed over to their friend, but Madam Hooch pushed them away so she could properly examine him. "Broken wrist," he heard her mutter. "Come on, boy – it's all right, up you get." She turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch".

No sooner were Neville and Madam Hooch out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvarti Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry-babies, Parvarti."

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching up Neville's Remembrall.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly, who was still ashamed of himself for not preventing the fall. He had basically promised Neville that he wouldn't let him embarrass himself in front of everyone, and the one time his friend was in need, he had failed him. It wasn't a good feeling, and it only made Harry more determined to fix his mistake.

Everyone froze as they watched the boy-who-lived approach the prince of Slytherin.

Malfoy smiled nastily. "I don't think so Potter. How about I leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – say – up a tree?"

"Give it here!" whispered Harry, his tone cold enough to freeze water, as he struggled to contain his anger. But Malfoy was oblivious to it all. He had already jumped on his broom and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well – hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter! Or is the boy-who-lived in muggle England unable to fly like a proper wizard."

"Harry you can't you could be expelled," whispered Hermione furiously, knowing full well her friend wouldn't listen to her warning anyways.

Harry grabbed his broom, ignoring the shouts of his classmates as he mounted his broom and soared into the sky.

It felt wonderful to be up in the air once again. He couldn't believe how much he had missed flying in the few weeks he had been forced to go without it. Feeling the wind in your hair and the freedom of the open skies was more exhilarating then anything he had ever experienced. The only difference was, that unlike his other times on a broom, this wasn't a joy ride.

Whipping his broom around, Harry rocketed upwards towards Draco with all the speed of a professional Quidditch player, before pulling into a hard stop only a few feet away from him.

"I'll give you one last chance Malfoy, either you give me the Remembrall," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.

Harry just leant forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands and it shot forwards at Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; as Harry did a sharp 180 by pulling up on his broom so hard he flipped upside down, before he shot back at Draco again, still flying upside down. A few people below were clapping at the sight, while others were trying to cover their eyes to keep from watching.

Draco only just managed to roll out of the way, though he almost fell off his broom in the process, and was now looking quite worried, as Harry looped back and prepared for a third strike.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, this time Malfoy."

The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy, as he lost what was left of his bravery. "Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back towards the ground.

Harry saw as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leant forward and pointed his broom handle down – next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball – wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching – he stretched out his hand – a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently on to the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

"HARRY POTTER!"

His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running towards them, and he had never seen her look more agitated. He got to his feet trembling, worrying that he might have very well spent his last few moments at Hogwarts.

"Never – in all my time at Hogwarts –"

Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "- how dare you – might have broken your neck –"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor –"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil –"

"But Malfoy – "

"That's enough, Miss Bones. Potter, follow me, now!"

Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left walking behind Professor McGonagall.

She didn't say a word to him the whole walk through the castle, but Harry's thoughts of what his mother would say about this were enough to scare him senseless anyway.

To his shock however Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door, poked her head inside, and asked to speak with someone named Wood.

She led the two into an empty classroom and locking the door before she turned back to the two confused students. "Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood – I've found you a Seeker."

Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight. "Are you serious, Professor?"

"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. He's a better flyer then his father and he was the Gryffindor Quidditch captain for 4 years, leading us to a cup 3 times. Potter here is the answer to our problems. He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself, Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."

Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once. "He's just the build for a Seeker, too" said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light – speedy – we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor – a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."

"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. _Flattened _in the last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…"

Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry. "I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."

Then she suddenly smiled. "Just imagine what your father will say, he'll be unbearable for weeks. He was an excellent Quidditch player, but I dare say you've seemed to outshine him in that regard, he'll be most proud."

* * *

Meanwhile Hermione and Susan were in the Hospital Wing telling Neville about what had happened.

"Harry's going to be expelled and it's all my fault," choked Neville as he buried his face into his hands.

"I'm sure he'll be fine Neville, it wasn't your fault. He knew what he was doing, just took off without a second thought unwilling to listen to anyone. He knew the consequences but chose to do so anyway. He might be punished but…" Hermione seemed to trail off for a bit before Susan finished the statement for her, "I don't think that matter's to him, you know Harry, doesn't ever consider the consequences towards himself just charges in for those in need."

"You make me sound like some kind of super-hero," came Harry's voice from behind them.

Hermione and Susan whirled around to face their grinning friend.

"Harry! What happened?" asked both girls furiously at the same time.

"Well, long story short I'm not being punished." Both girls seemed to smile at this although it was easy to tell that both wanted to know why. "In fact, you're looking at the youngest seeker in over a century. McGonagall took me to see the team captain and arrange for a few practices, but she spoke so highly of me, Wood looked like he was ready to propose to me," joked Harry.

Hermione just rolled her eyes, _only a Potter_, she thought as Susan began bouncing up and down in excitement.

"For the love of Merlin please let me be there when you tell the family," laughed Neville. "Lily will probably have a colonoscopy and James will be happier then Ron Weasley in a Willy Wonka factory."

Harry just laughed. He too couldn't wait to see what his family's reactions would be.

"Anyways the reason why I'm here is to give you back you're Remembrall Neville, and to apologize for not doing more to prevent the situation."

"Thanks Harry, but don't think anything of it. You did more than I could've asked. From what Hermione and Susan have told me, you stood up for me. You really are a great friend Harry, and I'm sorry I haven't done the same, what with distancing myself this term. I guess I just wasn't comfortable with all the attention, but you've helped me remember that none of that means anything as long as we're together."

Harry just clapped his hand on Neville's shoulder in a sign of appreciation, and the four friends broke out into laughter. It might have taken a trip to the hospital wing, but things were starting to look better for the four friends.

* * *

**Hope you liked the new chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think. Things will start to get a little different from canon now, but they will still follow the same plot line as in J.K.R's Philosopher Stone. The difference is that there will be different factors causing these events.  
**

**I realize I'm messing with J.K.R. masterpiece by altering the character of Professor Snape but I feel that I have to. There's just no way I can justify him treating Harry like he did in canon, knowing that the boy is his only chance to reconnect with Lily.  
**

**Also I'd like to hear what you guys think of Ron, as his part will grow as the story progresses. Personally I'm not his biggest fan and don't plan on being very nice to him in this story, but I will not bash him. I prefer to see him as a little bit of a immature moron, though he does have his moments.**

**Thanks for reading**


	16. Like Father Like Son

As the four friends exited the hospital wing and headed off towards the Gryffindor Common Room for a much-needed sleep they were quickly approached by the Weasley twins, who must've somehow known where the group were, given how quick they were to intercept them.

"Congratulations Potter," said the boy Harry was pretty sure was George in a low voice. "Wood just told us. We're on the team too – Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said the other twin. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be really good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"Yea you've got our little brother running around to anyone who would listen, telling them about how great you were at your first flying lesson."

"Uh thanks guys," said Harry, unsure of how to take the compliment from the two. "I'm not on the team yet though, I won't know until after I've had a few practices with Wood. Plus McGonagall still has to talk to Dumbledore about making an exception to the first year rule."

The twins just exchanged looks and laughed. "Oh I wouldn't worry about Dumbledore giving you permission to play, everyone knows he'll cave as soon as McGonagall starts lecturing him in her Scottish tongue."

"That and the fact that he owed her probably a dozen favours for all the loose jobs she's picked up for him to free up time. I'll bet Dumbledore hasn't touched the schools finances in over twenty years," said the other twin, though who it was Harry wasn't sure anymore.

"Okay but that still doesn't mean I'm going to necessarily make the team. I could easily get cut," said Harry.

The twins just put their hands to each other's heads and groaned. "I tell you George, he can vanquish Dark Lord's and fly like a pro, yet you ask him to say something positive about himself and he probably couldn't even come up with anything."

"I think you're right oh brother of mine. Can you just imagine the girls he'll attract when he's older? That kind of selflessness will have them lining up outside his door just to say hello," chimed George.

Hermione stiffened ever so slightly at that comment behind them, while Neville and Susan started chuckling at Harry's embarrassed face.

"Hate to break it to you guys, but they already do that," said Neville, still fighting to control his chuckling,

The twin's eyebrows rose a little at that, both with identical looks of awe on their face before they turned back to Harry and made a big show of bowing to him and asking for any tips he might have on how to woo the opposite sex.

By now, Harry was thoroughly embarrassed, and he could hear Neville and Susan laughing behind him. No doubt they found the twins antics hilarious.

"Uh guys. I don't mean to be rude but can we not talk about the boy-who-lived. I didn't come here to be marvelled at by people, I came here as just another 11 year-old boy looking to make friends."

Harry couldn't have seen it, nor did anyone else notice for that matter, but Hermione's frown seemed to dissolve at that comment.

"Of course Harry, we're just having you on," replied George with a large grin on his face.

Fred was nodding his head vigorously beside his twin. "It's what we do, we're the school's most famous pranksters. We're always looking for a good joke." Exclaimed the tall, freckled red head.

Susan actually snorted at this, "I can just imagine Sirius reaction to that. He'd be either proud to see the next generation taking up the torch, or outraged at the thought that he's been outdone."

"Yeah" said Neville, "You'd think from all the stories he's told us, the legend of the Marauders would've lasted a little longer…"

"The Marauders? You know the Marauders! Tell us please, we're begging you," pleaded Fred.

"They're our idols," exclaimed George. "Everything we've done in our pranking career has been inspired by them. We'd do anything to meet them. Mum won't let us go within thirty feet of their store in Diagon Alley. Said we've been corrupted enough as is…"

Hermione, happy to jump into the conversation now that it had turned away from Harry's fame, just laughed at the sight of the two boys bouncing around hysterically. "Okay, okay but wouldn't it be more exciting if we showed you instead of just told you?"

The twins just gasped loudly at this. "You'd do that?" said the first twin.

"For us?" finished the second. Before they each bowed to kiss the hems of Hermione's robes, eliciting a wave of giggles from Susan, and a deep blush from Hermione.

"It's no problem really, they're practically family," joked Susan, as she shot Harry a smug look. "You'll probably get to see them in person, after Harry's first game." At the wins astounded look she continued, her grin only growing bigger, "I don't think Prongs would miss his son's first Quidditch game for the world."

"YOUR DAD IS PRONGS!" shouted the twins, who were apparently more impressed by this revelation than the legend of the boy-who-lived. "All hail the great Harry Potter, oh noble son of Prongs!" shouted the two redheads as they once again kneeled to kiss the hems of Harry's robes.

The four friends just started laughing at this. "Oh Sirius is going to love you guy's" gasped Neville in-between laughter.

"Whose Sirius?" asked the twins, eager to discover the identity of another one of their icons.

"Sirius Black," explained Hermione. "His Marauder's name is Padfoot, and quite frankly he's more of a child than us."

"He sounds like my favourite then," said Fred grinning as he elbowed his twin in the ribs.

"What about Moony or Wormtail?" asked George, eager to learn more about his heroes.

The 4 first years immediately stopped laughing at this question. "Well Moony is Remus Lupin, but as for the other one… We don't speak about him anymore. He betrayed my family to Voldemort on that Halloween." Explained a very solemn Harry.

"Pettigrew" gasped the twins before they immediately gathered themselves and apologized for their reaction.

"Don't worry about it," said Harry. "He's long since dead to me and my family. They cast him out of the Marauders the day they awoke in St. Mungo's according to my mum."

As the conversation died down the two groups went to part before Hermione who had appeared to be deep in thought for a little while spoke up. "If you guys don't mind me asking, how did you know about the Marauders?"

The twins seemed to exchange a glance before grinning at each other as they shrugged their shoulders, before breaking into an explanation. "Well you see the Marauders have been our idols ever since we discovered their ingenious map back in our first year," said Fred. "Yeah," continued George, "we owe them so much. Without that map, we wouldn't be able to pull half the pranks we've gotten away with so far."

"THE MARAUDERS MAP!" shouted the four first years.

The twins just grinned as George pulled out a thick piece of parchment. "I take it I don't need to explain what this is?" joked the third year Gryffindor.

Harry just swiped the map out of his outstretched hand and said the revealing phrase, as multiple footstep shaped dots scattered themselves along the many corridors of Hogwarts.

"This map will show you everything. It has all the secret passages in and out of the school, everyone's up to date location, and it's charmed so that it can't be wrong," explained Fred.

"I guess since it's rightfully yours anyway, we should be giving this back to you. We've already memorised all the secret passages anyways. Mind if we borrow it though every once in a while for a prank?" asked George.

Harry just broke into a grin as he responded, "Thanks guys, and don't think anything of it, just as long as you don't prank us. Or we'll have to get you back."

"Is that a threat?" asked Fred with a look of complete amusement.

"Let's just say, we picked up on a few things, having grown-up with three Marauders our whole life" explained Neville.

The twins just looked at each other before once again breaking into grins. "Oh I can just tell we're going to get along smashingly," said George, as the 6 friends broke into laughter.

* * *

"Have you heard from the children at all, Lily?" asked Alice. "I'm beginning to get a little worried about them."

"I know how you feel Alice," confessed Lily. "Things weren't going so well for them when they last called, and my gut is telling me it's only going to get worse."

"Oh come off," said James. "Things are going to start looking up, I have a good feeling about tonight's call."

"Maybe, but how about you just make yourself useful and go pick up the Grangers from their practice while I Floo Amelia," responded Lily.

"Yes dear," came the call from the dejected James, as he hurried to fetch Dan and Emma from their work in time for the kids call.

* * *

"NEVILLE HURRY UP!" yelled Harry from the bottom of the Gryffindor boy's dormitory. "We'll start without you!"

"Keep your panties on, I'm coming," came the reply as the boy in question hurried down the stairs fixing his uniform.

"Come on the girls are already waiting for us in the room and I don't want to wait any longer then I have to, to tell the parent's the good news," responded Harry.

Neville just clapped his friend on the shoulder. "You would, this is the best news we've had since we got here."

And with that the two boys headed out of the door and hurried down to the empty classroom on the 5th floor that they used to call their family every Saturday at 8, walking right past Ron who was desperately trying to get Harry's attention and addressing his Quidditch skills.

* * *

"There you guys are, what took you so long?" asked Hermione.

"Neville here, couldn't decide what to wear for his big appearance, but after a tough decision he decided to go with his school uniform," said Harry with a large grin on his face.

Susan just laughed at this, "Somebody's in a good mood I see".

"The best" replied Harry. "Come on, let's get our mirrors out so we can set up the jumbo-screen to make the call."

After attaching the 4 magical communication mirrors together, Harry applied the sticking charm to attach the screen to the classroom wall, before Hermione made the call to the parents.

* * *

"I wonder what's taking them so long?" asked a nervous Emma Granger. "They've never been late on a call before, you don't think something's happened do you?"

"Nonsense, I'm sure they're fine. They probably just got held up by some Professor asking Harry to help them teach the next lesson," joked Sirius.

Lily actually let out a very loud un-lady like snort at this, causing Alice, Amelia, James, Sirius and Remus to break into a round of chuckles.

"Ooh it's ringing! It's ringing! Answer it!" screeched Alice, as the mirror in front of them started to glow a bright yellow.

As James picked up the call, the group of Sirius, Remus, James, Lily, Alice, Frank, Emma, Dan, Amelia, Clarissa, Sarah, Matthew and Joshua were greeted by the grinning faces of Hermione, Susan, Neville and Harry.

"Ok you four, what's happened since our last call, this is the first time I've seen you guys so happy since you were all sorted into Gryffindor" lectured Lily, in her no-nonsense tone.

"Nothing much mom, we just made a few interesting discoveries," chimed Harry, with an innocent smile.

The parents just laughed. They knew that smile only too well. It was the smile that Harry always used when he had successfully acquired something he wasn't supposed to. Like the time he and Neville stole the cookie jar from on top of the fridge when they were six, or when he used magic at primary school to make Dudley trip over his laces.

"Harry James Potter, what did you do?" asked Lily, in a tone of voice that clearly let the 4 kids know that if they answered incorrectly there would be trouble.

"We actually had our first flying lesson this week Mrs. Potter" responded Hermione, watching the parent's reaction as she said it. Half of them adopted looks of concern or worry at this statement, while others (mainly James) failed to hide their excitement. "As expected Susan, Neville and I weren't very good, but Harry here had to go and steal the show."

From the look on Lily's face, she clearly wasn't very happy with this answer, whereas James and Sirius were grinning from ear-to-ear.

"What happened?" asked Emma.

At Neville and Harry's nod Susan quickly told the tale of Neville falling off his broom and breaking his wrist, Malfoy stealing his Remembrall and Harry standing up for his friend.

"So what happened after Harry made the spectacular diving catch?" asked Sirius who was clearly eating up the kid's story.

"Professor McGonagall came out and gave me an ear-full before taking me away," said Harry.

"And she should have" responded Lily. "Harry it's great that you stood up for Neville, but you not only broke the rules, you put yourself in danger. You could have broken you're neck!"

"Funny that's what she said," laughed Harry, a wicked grin coming across his face, "before she made me the youngest seeker in over a century that is."

Silence was all that could be heard on the other end of the call as the parents were apparently too stunned to respond, as Susan and Neville chuckled away. Finally after what seemed like a full minute the adults managed to come to their senses.

James, Clarissa and Sirius could be seen bouncing around the room shouting at the top of their lungs at this new information, as Alice, Remus, Frank, Amelia, and Sarah tried to hide their grins from the still stunned Lily.

"They made you seeker?" gasped Lily. Harry nodded.

"But what about the first year rule?"

"McGonagall went to Dumbledore to get an exception, apparently she wasn't going to let some stupid rule keep Gryffindor from winning the Quidditch cup," explained Hermione.

"God bless that Woman!" shouted Sirius as he continued to dance with James, who could still be heard shouting about how his son was the new Gryffindor seeker.

"And that's not all" explained Neville. "We got to meet a few of Harry's new teammates. The Weasley twins to be precise, perhaps you've heard of them." As most of the group shook their heads he quickly continued. "Fred and George Weasley are supposed to be Hogwarts most notorious pranksters."

Lily actually groaned at this information, causing the rest of the group to smile, as Remus's, James and Sirius's grins all grew even larger.

"Apparently they're the Marauders biggest fans" said Susan, causing everyone's smiles to grow a little bigger. "They also helped recover one of the Marauder's biggest legacies and it's been safely returned to its rightful owners," finished the strawberry blonde haired girl, as Harry pulled out the thick piece of parchment from one of his robes pockets.

The Marauder's screams could probably be heard all the way in the Hufflepuff dormitories on the opposite side of the school, as they laid eyes on the forsaken Marauder's Map they had lost so long ago.

James was actually crying with Sirius now, as Lily was left to hang her head in defeat.

"Good to see there's still some of James, in Lily's son," joked the grinning Remus.

Lily just sighed and began to pester Harry making him promise to be responsible both in Quidditch, and with the Marauders legacy.

"I will mum. Promise," said Harry as he bid goodbye to his family putting an end to the over-an hour phone call so that he could get some much-needed rest.

* * *

"I can't believe it Prongs, Seeker!" exclaimed Sirius as he poured another round of fire-whiskey for himself, James, Frank, Remus and Dan.

"My son, my 11 year old-son is the Gryffindor Seeker. And now he's found the Marauders Map too! Just think of all the fun he's going to have this year!" exclaimed James, as he downed his shot of the fiery amber liquid. Almost as soon as he put the shot glass back down on the table, his eyes grew wide and he sat up straighter, though it wasn't any effect of the alcohol. "We have to get him a new broom!" screeched the overly proud father, as Sirius just laughed and poured another round of shots before diving into a conversation about the performance of each of the top quality brooms on the market.

"Finally have a reason to purchase a Nimbus 2000 eh James? Bet you've been dying for this day," laughed Frank.

"You know it old man," responded James as he raised his once again full glass to toast his good fortune. "I knew I had a good feeling about that call; seeker and the Marauders Map, this is the best week ever!"


	17. The Wizarding Duel

**Everything belongs to J.K.R. I own nothing. **

* * *

When Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast the next morning, he was quickly reminded of what happened the day before, as he was pelted with questions.

"Harry mate, where did you learn to fly like that!" asked Ron. "You were amazing, I haven't seen anyone fly like that since Charlie, and he was the star of the Gryffindor Quidditch team when he was in school."

Harry just shrugged and responded politely, "my dad played Quidditch for Gryffindor when he was in school too. He had a short stint with Puddlemore United as a reserve chaser after he graduated but he decided he'd become an Auror instead. When I was five he gave me my first training broom and I've been flying ever since."

"Harry's just being modest," interrupted Susan, eager to use the opportunity to tease Harry about his capabilities. "He's been flying circles around the old-man ever since he was 8. He's going to have clubs lining up to sign him before he turns 15."

Of course, Ron was now so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry. It seemed that like his twin brothers before him, he too found another one of the aspects of Harry's life more amazing than his defeat of the Dark Lord.

Ron however, never got the chance to voice his thoughts as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle made their unwelcome presence known.

"Having a last meal, Potter?" sneered the blonde, causing the two hulking gorillas behind him to snigger in laughter.

Harry just rolled his eyes, an action that had Neville fighting to suppress a smile, before turning around to address the ferret that had rudely interrupted his meal.

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.

"Ha! I'm not scared of you. I'd take you on any time on my own. You couldn't even perform the basic shield charm in Defence last week," said Malfoy.

"Oh really? Care to back that statement up?" asked Harry, barely managing to keep the grin off his face. "Maybe a little confrontation of some sort, or are you just all talk?"

"Wizard's duel. Tonight. Wands only – no contact. The trophy room, be there at midnight," sneered the blonde, as his bodyguards snickered behind him.

Harry just laughed. "Nonsense, why not now. You're here, I'm here, I'm sure if we asked the Headmaster he'd give us extra credit for it," said the black haired boy calmly as he waved the Headmaster over.

Dumbledore was busy watching the confrontation with growing amusement when Harry signalled for him to join them. Wondering as to what the young lad had in mind, the twinkling eyed wizard rose from his seat and walked towards the group of first years at the end of the Gryffindor table.

By the time Dumbledore got there, every eye in the Great Hall was focused on the confrontation, as students and teachers watched on in ranges from amusement, surprise, and annoyance.

"May I ask why you called me over here Mr. Potter?" spoke the Headmaster in his naturally calm tone.

"Malfoy has challenged me to a wizard duel at midnight tonight," said Harry. "I was wondering if instead of having it after curfew, if you wouldn't mind allowing it after dinner this evening in the Great Hall, perhaps you could even be the referee?"

Malfoy was now as pale as a sheet, as Susan, Ron and Neville were struggling to suppress their laughter, with Dumbledore's eyes shining with amusement.

"Of course Harry. Sounds like a splendid idea to me. We can even award house points to the winner, make it a little bit more exciting for the rest of the students who will no doubt want to watch. Can I ask who your second might be?"

Malfoy was looking like he desperately wanted to be anywhere else other than standing in the presence of the Headmaster and Harry, but he was fully aware that every eye in the Hall was watching him, and he couldn't back out now.

Harry just looked over his shoulder at Neville, ignoring Ron's pleas to fill the role. The boy just gave a small nod and rolled his eyes, signalling that he'd agree to it, but that he wasn't happy about it. It wasn't that Neville was shy or anything; he just didn't like drawing unnecessary attention to himself. He always preferred to let someone else take the spotlight, only stepping forward when no one else would do so. It was one of the things Harry was actually slightly jealous about Neville. He wished he could divert attention away from himself like Neville could, but if his first few weeks of school had taught him anything it was that was never going to happen. Perhaps when he was older, he'd grow more accustomed to his fame and actually use it for good use, but for now it only served to irritate him.

He was broken from his stupor however, when Malfoy (who now looked like he was going to throw up) sauntered out of the Hall with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

After watching the three Slytherins leave, Dumbledore turned his head to raise an eyebrow at Harry.

Realizing he had yet to explain his actions to the Headmaster, he just shrugged and said, "I just think it's time someone put him, and his blood supremacy in its place."

Dumbledore could only nod his head and smile at the actions of the first years before turning and walking back to the High Table. Leaving the first year Gryffindors to finish their meal and talk amongst themselves.

* * *

By lunchtime that day, everyone in the school knew about the upcoming duel, largely thanks to the Weasley twins, who had done everything from starting up a betting pool to hanging a banner that read,

_DON'T MISS IT! WIZARDING DUEL: HARRY POTTER vs. DRACO MALFOY TONIGHT IN THE GREAT HALL._

It was easy to see that Harry wasn't very comfortable with the numerous people that approached him during lunch to wish him luck, so the 4 friends decided to head back to the common room early for some private time in the duelling chamber of Harry's trunk.

* * *

Severus Snape could only shake his head at his godson's stupidity. How he had been sorted into the house of cunning when he had allowed himself to be tricked into a public duel with the boy-who-lived he had no idea.

He was currently attempting to teach the boy a few advanced curses that may help him save face in this duel, but he knew the boy didn't have a chance of winning.

Snape was no idiot. He had known his colleagues had tutored the boy for over a year, and while a part of him wished he could have gone with them, another dreaded the thought of spending time with the boy.

As far as he was concerned he was still his father's son, meaning that it was only too easy for Snape to despise the boy as was expected of him.

Despite the war being over he was still expected to keep up his image as a death eater for the Headmaster, so that he could continue to feed him information.

He knew that several death eaters currently had children residing within the walls of the castle, and they certainly wouldn't hesitate to send word to their parents if he was to ever reveal his true alliance.

No, Severus Snape had to pretend to hate Gryffindors, muggleborns and most importantly the boy-who-lived. And while this wasn't very hard to do given his exceptional ability to hide his emotions and the tortures of his past, it did mean that he had to show favouritism towards a few of the slimier students, particularly Draco Malfoy.

As he watched the boy once again struggle to cast a proper cutting curse, he could only dream of having the satisfaction of casting the very same curse at his godson.

A part of him even became curious as to how badly Potter would humiliate the brat, but he quickly quashed that thought.

While he had been no Draco Malfoy while he was at school, he didn't even wish for his whelp of a godson to go through the torture at the hands of a Potter that he had been subjected to.

Directing the proper wand movement to the boy, Snape had him try again, this time with a little more success.

He knew it was trivial; the boy was sure to get his ass kicked in the duel.

He wasn't even sure he wanted to watch, but he knew it was expected of him. It was going to take every ounce of his self-control not to hex Potter during his celebration speech though.

* * *

"I still don't think this is a very good idea Harry," said a clearly worried Hermione. "Whatever happened to not drawing more than the necessary amount of attention to yourself, or not showing off your abilities?"

"Hermione don't worry," said Harry. "I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to do anything over the top to humiliate him, I'm just going to make it look easy and put him in his place. After that, he'll leave us alone. Malfoy's just another bully, once they learn that you're not going to allow yourself to be victimized, they stop bothering you."

Hermione clearly wasn't entirely appeased by this answer but allowed Harry to get back to practicing as he stunned, banished, levitated, and transfigured the 5 practice dummies around the large room. She knew Harry would have no problem winning this duel, even if Malfoy tried to cheat by using some dark magic or something, but she still felt uneasy that this would only draw more attention to them instead of helping to diminish it.

Despite her persistent efforts to convince Harry otherwise, the boy was set on participating in the duel, citing that he couldn't back out now, and quite frankly if it meant standing up for what was right, he didn't care about any consequences that may come his way.

Forced with no alternative, Hermione had to step aside and let her friend go through with it, she knew there was no chance of convincing him otherwise once Harry worked himself into a state where he was convinced his actions were for the greater good. The boy was too bloody noble for his own good sometimes. Shaking her head at the enigma that was her best friend, Hermione followed him, Susan and Neville into the Great Hall for dinner.

* * *

"Can I have your attention please," called the Headmaster, from the podium in front of the Head Table. "Now that we have finished with our meals, I believe there is some entertainment this evening." As the students of the Hall broke into cheers, Dumbledore had to raise his arms to get everyone's attention once again. "Students if you could be so kind as to make your way to the side walls so that we can move the tables out of the way and set up the platform."

As footsteps of 300+ students clambered out of their seats, the Teachers were busy levitating the 4 house tables to the end of the Hall, in order to make space for Dumbledore to conjure the large duelling Platform that stretched almost entirely from one end of the hall to the other.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy if you could join me on the Platform so we can begin." Said the Headmaster in his naturally calm tone of voice, although Harry could see his eyes were twinkling with mirth.

It seemed to Harry as if every student he passed on his way to the platform slapped their hand on his back as a sign of encouragement, with several of the older Gryffindor's whispering spells into his ear to give him a competitive advantage. Harry just smiled and shook his head and walked up the stairs to greet Dumbledore as he watched Malfoy make his way up the stairs at the opposite end of the platform. He was looking exceptionally pale, with a thick line of sweat on forehead. After a few quick words where Dumbledore outlined the rules, the two opponents shook hands and went back to their starting positions to wait for the duel to commence.

Dumbledore had them begin at sixteen paces from each other, where they were supposed to bow to their opponent and only begin casting on his count of three. Unfortunately, either Malfoy must have never learned how to count properly, or he thought cheating would help his chances, because he cast his first hex before the Headmaster had even gotten to two.

A few of the students gasped as they recognized the orange beam of light that was shooting towards Harry, but the boy did nothing to evade it. Instead, he just raised an eyebrow, almost as if a show of admiration that someone as ignorant as Malfoy could cast a successful cutting curse.

Sighing to himself, he lazily flicked his left hand to produce a giant golden shield that easily absorbed Malfoy's hex. Harry could hear many whispers going through the crowd at this impressive feat, but paid them no attention as he quickly used his wand to conjure a flock of ravens and sent them at his opponent.

Malfoy seemed to panic at the sight of the dozen birds that were rushing towards him, and tried to hit a few of them with spells, but because they were moving so quickly; he couldn't land a single hit.

After watching the birds scratch his wailing opponent for a few seconds (much to the delight of the Gryffindors in the crowd) Harry banished the birds before he sent a swarm of silent tickling charms at his vulnerable opponent. The blonde-haired just collapsed onto the platform in a fit of giggles, before Harry silently summoned his wand and handed it to the smiling Headmaster.

The duel might not have lasted very long but it certainly aroused a lot of cheering from the crowd, as the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors voiced their admiration for the champion.

A few of them tried to climb onto the platform, but after realizing the Headmaster had spelled it so that they wouldn't be able to get too close, they settled on attempting to lure Harry over to them so they could give him the celebration he deserved.

Unfortunately, Harry wasn't paying any attention to them at the moment; he only had eyes for the blonde-haired boy in front of him. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Harry walked over to release the spell from the boy who was still rolling around on the ground laughing.

"Look Malfoy, I never wanted any trouble with you or anyone else, all I wanted was for you to give me and my friends some space. You seemed determined not to let that happen, so I had to take you down a peg. I hope this little lesson means you'll leave my friends and I alone now, but if you don't stop spouting this stupid blood-supremacy nonsense we might have to arrange a rematch, and I can assure you I won't be so gentle. Let me ask you something Malfoy, does your supposed 'clean' blood matter so much when it's sprayed out on the ground? Do you think your stupid ancestry makes you any better than anyone else? Do you think your father will be there to rescue you if we have to cross paths again? I ended his master's life when I was two, don't make the mistake of thinking I won't be able to do the same to you, if you threaten me or my friends again."

Malfoy never answered though he just stared up at his opponent who was now offering his hand to help the boy up – much to the astonishment of the crowd.

When the boy refused his hand however, Harry had no choice but to shrug his shoulders and walk off the platform to join his friends, who seemed to be the only Gryffindor's not celebrating Harry's defeat of the Slytherin prince.

Perhaps he should have listened to Hermione's advice, as virtually every student in the school was falling over themselves to congratulate the boy-who-lived.

"Harry mate that was awesome!"

"Yeah that flock of ravens was genius," said another.

"Forget the birds! How did you do that golden shield, you didn't even use your wand"

"Congrats Harry, you definitely made Gryffindor proud!"

"And you never said a word the whole duel! You fought using silent casting, that's 7th year material!"

Recognizing that he had to do something to try and appease the crowd, Harry decided it best to say something, before attempting to escape the Hall with his friends.

Clearing his throat and holding up his hands to silence the crowd's uproar of questions, Harry waited for them to quiet down before he addressed them. "Uh thanks guys," he said rather lamely, not knowing how to start, and wanting to get out of the room as quickly as possible. "Um I realize some of the stuff I did are a bit advanced, but I did vanquish a Dark Lord when I was a baby didn't I?" joked Harry in a lame attempt to settle the crowd.

A few people laughed, others flinched, but most people looked like they were now only more desperate to get to the small boy.

"Actually I thought Malfoy did pretty well considering I've had more practice than him," said Harry.

This seemed to confuse the crowd who didn't seem capable of understanding why a Gryffindor would be complimenting a Slytherin.

Realizing this was going to be his best chance to escape, Harry used their whispered discussions as the distraction he needed for him to sneak out of the Hall un-noticed where he met up with Neville, Susan and Hermione, before heading off to the Gryffindor dormitories.

They too congratulated him for his performance, though Hermione didn't think it was very wise of him to use such high levels of magic to defeat someone as easy as Draco Malfoy. Harry just laughed sheepishly at that and admitted that if his increase in followers were anything to go by, he might have mishandled the situation. Thankfully, Hermione had the good grace to refrain from rubbing it in his face and actually saying, "I told you so," but the look she gave him spoke volumes in conveying the message.

* * *

Unlike Harry, Malfoy was ostracized by the older Slytherins for bringing embarrassment to their house in front of the whole school. His confrontation in the Great Hall was even more humiliating then being turned into a pink ostrich for the duration of the Hogwarts Express.

The Gryffindor golden boy had basically manhandled into a fight that he couldn't win, nor escape. He was so set on his plan to get the boy in trouble that he hadn't even recognized the trap he had walked into until it was too late.

If it did serve one purpose however, it was that Draco Malfoy now knew to be more careful about challenging Harry Potter in the future. The rumours surrounding the boy's magical strength were clearly true, and he didn't hold any misconceptions that he actually stood a chance at winning in another physical confrontation. No, if he was going to get one over the brat he was going to have to do it the Slytherin way. No more fights, if he were to beat him, he would need to use his Slytherin cunning to come up with a scheme.

He thought his father might be able to lend assistance on the matter, but that only made him think of what he'd have to say when he learned about the humiliation he had suffered so far. He was sure to be on the receiving end of a few crucios when he got home for besmirching the family name.

His mind going over possible ways to cover up his losses, Draco sat back and dreamt about having his revenge on the boy who had disgraced him ever since they first laid eyes on each other.

For now though, he'd just have to sit back and wait until the boy slipped up before making his move.

* * *

Of course the reaction to the wizarding duel was far more immense than even Hermione had suspected. Virtually every girl in the school was fawning over the cute little 11-year-old boy, who didn't have a clue as to how to react to this new revelation. Unable to hide or escape the attention, he was frequently the benefiter of older witches touching his face or rubbing their hands though his hair, as they flirted with him shamelessly.

Now normally this would have been any pre-pubescent boy's dream, but for someone that wasn't comfortable around crowds of people, Harry wasn't very happy about the treatment he was receiving.

In fact, he found the whole thing rather embarrassing, and was consistently on the receiving end of Susan's teasing as a result. She of course, thought the whole thing was hilarious as Harry would tense up and seize to function any time a pretty girl he didn't know got to close to him, and even Neville got in on the act of teasing him too. Thankfully, Hermione never joined in on their shenanigans, despite the fact that Susan prodded her too quite often. In truth, the young witch wasn't at all comfortable with the way students were practically tripping over themselves to get Harry's attention. It was completely degrading and immoral to boot. She had to fight extra hard to suppress a groan or a frown whenever some blonde bimbo would begin to get a little too friendly with her best friend.

* * *

In hindsight, Harry realized that maybe having the duel in such a public place wasn't his smartest decision.

Students were now even more desperate to get closer, and it seemed like the extra attention surrounding him had once acted as a dividing force between him and his best friends.

He still got along great with Neville, but Susan and Hermione had begun avoiding him more and more as time passed on. He didn't know it, but their actions were the result of the two being frequently hassled, threatened, and tormented by older witches because of their close relation with him.

Susan would just shrug and act like nothing was happening whenever he tried to broach the subject. He didn't know if she was lying or not, as the strawberry blonde was excellent at concealing her true thoughts. Hermione on the other hand was a different story. He knew from the way she was acting, something was bothering her. It was just one of those things that he was always able to recognize in his best friend. He figured that her behaviour was just because she wasn't comfortable with bullies or large crowds, as she had suffered from the same childhood insecurities that he and Neville had gone through. He could only hope that the situation would get better before she worked herself into a state where she tried to prove everyone wrong about the attention surrounding her.

What Harry didn't know, was that it wasn't the attention of the students he should have been concerned with.

Dumbledore and McGonagall were both quite pleased at how well the young lad was developing into a respectful young man, but it was the reaction of Severus Snape and Professor Quirrell that were perhaps the most important.

Quirrell now saw Harry Potter as a legitimate threat to his mission and decided it best to hurry up his plans to retrieve the stone. He figured that a little distraction during the Halloween feast would present the perfect opportunity to make a visit to the 3rd floor unnoticed. With any luck, his plan might even put the boy in danger, as the sooner he could find a way to eradicate the lad the better. He knew it wouldn't be a good idea to openly attack him in a school full of witnesses. No he'd have to wait until after he gained back his strength from the stone, before he'd be able to properly challenge him to a dual he couldn't win. However, it didn't mean that he couldn't wait for an opportunity to present itself where he could eliminate the brat without raising suspicion towards himself. Either way he would have to get a move on with his plans, Dumbledore seemed to be getting more and more precautious of his behaviour, and he couldn't have anyone finding out his secret.

Snape's reaction to the duel on the other hand was far less sinister. He couldn't believe the maturity the little boy had shown in his duel. While the magic he performed was well beyond the level of the average first year student, it was his control and familiarity that surprised him. He quickly came to the conclusion that the boy was much more advanced than he let on. He couldn't help but smirk at the thought that Harry Potter might have a Slytherin side to him.

It seemed that every time the boy did something it just confused him even more. As Snape grumbled over the boy's strange behaviour he was forced to grudgingly admit that perhaps there was some of Lily Evans in the boy. After all, the lad had refrained from expressing any sign that he revelled for attention, a feat that was certainly inherited from his mother given his father's attitude when he had been in school.

Downing the last of his bottle of fire-whiskey, Snape made his way to bed with happy thoughts of Lily Evans, resentment towards James Potter, and curiosity towards their son Harry.

He would never admit it, but it seemed as though he was developing a sense of attachment towards the boy, a thought that made him shudder involuntarily in his sleep.

* * *

**Next Chapter will be Halloween. Update will be coming soon. Hope you've enjoyed the story so far.**


	18. Halloween

**Don't own anything. Everything belongs to J.K.R.  
**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

The next few weeks saw the attention surrounding Harry and his friends only grow. While Harry had managed to find a level of protection in the few older witches he trusted (his cousin Nymphadora Tonks – a Hufflepuff 7th year, Penelope Clearwater – a Ravenclaw 5th year prefect, and his Quidditch teammates Alicia and Angelina) he still had to put up with a few hugs and several hair ruffling's. Their behaviour didn't bother him nearly as much as it originally did, especially that now he at least knew the girls that were touching him and that they were doing it all in good fun, but no amount of familiarity was going to appease his hatred towards having his cheeks pinched.

It was bad enough having his mother prune over his appearance when he was younger, but now Harry felt as if he had 5 different moms at school. Between Tonks who was always looking out to make sure Harry didn't get into too much trouble, Penny who made sure that he kept up with his studies, and his Quidditch teammates Alicia and Angelina who made sure he never lost track of time, Harry didn't know where to turn. He had tried to express how uncomfortable he was with the whole situation, but the girls had just laughed it off explaining that they were doing it for a good laugh and as a means to protect Harry from the witches who really did want to harass him. They also wasted no time in pointing out that it was actually very fun fussing over the flustered little boy, who was so uncomfortable with attention. The worst part was that when he tried to go to his friends for some help, they had just laughed at him, because apparently his reaction to the whole situation was hilarious.

Neville seemed to be able to continue on with life, without having any of the attention directed at him, a fact that he was extremely grateful for, as he was more than content to watch in amusement at his best friend's uncomfortable dilemma of having a hundred older witches chasing after him.

Susan seemed to also find the situation amusing, but it frustrated her that it frequently prevented her from spending time with Harry and Neville.

Hermione was easily the worst off with the Harry Potter fanfare going through the school. She tried to not let it bother her, but the fact that it prevented her from spending time with Harry and Neville was really starting to get on her nerves. Every time she tried to approach them in a public setting, Harry's fans would shun her. She couldn't help but feel her old insecurities rear their ugly head once again as the thought of her low self-worth played through her mind.

Forcing herself to prove her self-worth to all the disbelievers, Hermione resolved to show her worth by answering as many questions as possible in class. She didn't realize that this behaviour would make her come off as an insufferable know-it-all, or that it would land her in a bathroom with a 14 foot mountain troll, but she was only 12, and even Hermione Granger wasn't very good at making logical decisions when it came to her feelings.

* * *

As the month of October drew to a close, Harry was spending most of his time practicing Quidditch with his teammates in preparation for the upcoming season. Wood still worked them to exhaustion, but he had found practices to be rather fun, thanks to the Weasley twin's sense of humour and his growing friendship with the three chasers.

He also spent plenty of time in the library working on spells with Penny, who had originally been skeptical that Harry could fathom 5th year material, but after ensuring her that if she explained the theory to him he could perform the practical part of the spell with ease, the two had gotten along splendidly. Harry even asked Hermione to join them after a few sessions, who had apparently been rather unsettled at the prospect of Harry spending so much time alone with the beautiful blonde woman, but after participating in one of their study sessions she loved it. While she wasn't able to perform any of the 5th year spell work like Harry she found the theory invigorating and spent many an hour debating with Penny in the solitude of the library as to what they were currently studying. Together they touched on subjects ranging from ward making, to magical creatures, to advanced potions. It really was great practice, given how both students missed the more advanced private lessons they received from their family back home.

Unfortunately their constant presence in the school library seemed to have a negative effect as well.

It wasn't long before the two first years earned themselves a reputation of being a little bookish from many of their peers. No one dared to voice these thoughts towards Harry, seeming all too willing to grant him an exception; they were ruthless in their tormenting towards Hermione.

On a daily basis she had to put up with being called everything from a bookworm, to a buck-toothed freak, words that although she tried her best to hide it, hurt her deeply. She knew all too well that these accusations had a certain level of truth, and couldn't help but feel the insecurities she had growing larger as a result. She even started doubting why Neville, Susan and Harry wanted to be her friend in the first place.

Before she knew it she had regressed into the shy little insecure girl again, and spent most of her time hiding away from her friends and her peers, busy bustling between lessons, and the solitude of the library, only returning to the dormitory for sleep. Her friends of course noticed this behaviour and did what they could to help, a fact she was grateful for, but they couldn't seem to bring her out of her funk. As a result Harry, Neville and Susan couldn't do anything but to vehemently threaten the fool who bullied Hermione.

They knew her behaviour wasn't helping her cause of making people like her very much, but helping people out in their schoolwork was the only way Hermione knew how to make friends. Yes, she had a tendency to overdo it a bit when she was stressed, but many people seemed oblivious to her desire to help and instead saw it as an insult to their intelligence. It seemed people's patience were drawing thin with the bushy haired – witch as many of the people she had associated with previously began to distance themselves from her. Most notable were her two dorm mates Parvarti, and Lavender who made it only too clear from the way they avoided her like the plague that they wanted nothing to do with her.

However this all came to a climax on the night of Halloween, when Hermione was trying to help one, Ron Weasley perform the levitation Charm in Professor Flitwick's class.

* * *

Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice the levitation charm they would be working on that morning. Harry was partnered with Seamus Finnegan, Susan was with Neville, and Hermione was with Ron. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier with this, given that everyone in Gryffindor knew the two didn't see eye to eye to say the least.

"Now don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Harry found this story very amusing as he watched Seamus prod the feather with his wand. It wasn't very long before Harry had to ask for another feather because Seamus had set theirs on fire.

When he looked around the classroom he noticed two things. The first was that his friends Neville and Susan weren't even attempting the spell they had easily mastered after their first month of private lessons with Lily before Hogwarts. Professor Flitwick seemed to understand this, as he wasn't even paying attention to the 4 mini-marauders and their partners choosing to focus his attention on helping the Slytherins who were struggling with the simple spell.

Ron Weasley he noticed wasn't having much more luck than Crabbe or Goyle.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" making the feather rise up and hover 4 feet above her head.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Most of the class turned and glared daggers at the witch in question, while Hermione just looked over at Ron with a proud expression on her face, causing the boy to scowl and turn away from her.

Needless to say, Ron was in a very bad temper by the end of the class.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Seamus as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly."

Wiping the tears from her eyes Hermione pushed past Seamus not hearing the two boys laughed as she ran by, "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

No one would blame Neville for his actions at hearing the two idiots insult his insecure friend. With a purpose not many would have predicted from the reserved boy, he walked straight up to Ron and punched him in the jaw, causing the boy to collapse to the ground clutching his bleeding mouth.

"Say that about Hermione again, and you'll find that your stay in the hospital wing will last longer than a few hours." Snarled the chubby brown haired wizard before he turned towards Harry and Susan, as the three rushed off to find their friend.

* * *

Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, the three friends overheard Parvarti Patil telling her friend Lavender Brown that Hermione was crying in the girl's toilets and wanted to be left alone. The three friends felt horrible about this but decided that maybe some space would do her a little good, and that they would talk to her this evening once she had some time to collect herself.

None of the three friends paid much attention to the food or the fabulous decorations that were prepared for the ceremonial feast that celebrated the demise of the Lord Voldemort at Harry Potter's hand. Throughout the feast Harry heard his name being mentioned in several of the whispers that raced through the crowd of students but he paid them no attention, thinking only of his friend who was hurting in the bathroom.

Right when he decided he couldn't hold out any longer and that he would go and see how she was doing, Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table and gasped, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence. "Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy was suddenly in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!" he shouted as he pushed his way out of the Great Hall, not bothering to count to make sure that all of the first years had followed him.

Harry wasn't paying any attention to the boy at the moment though, all he could think about was the fact that his friend might be in danger. "Neville, Susan we have to warn Hermione she doesn't know about the troll!"

The two kids paled dramatically before exchanging a glance and coming up with a plan.

"Harry, use the Marauders map to find out which bathroom Hermione's in," said Susan in her no-nonsense tone. "Neville and I will go and get help, you go and get Hermione. Take her back to the common room and don't wait for us to find you," she barked, before she and Neville ran off in the direction of the teachers who had left for the dungeons.

Sprinting out of the Hall, Harry slipped down a deserted corridor where he pulled out the Marauders Map to locate the girl's toilets. He saw that Neville and Susan were several hallways behind the large group of professors, and that the lone figure of Severus Snape was making his way towards the forbidden 3rd floor corridor. Not wasting any more time to busy himself with unimportant thoughts, he closed up the map after locating Hermione's dot and raced down the Hall.

The closer he got to the bathroom the more nervous Harry was becoming. He was aware of the awful stench in the air around him, he was aware of the loud thunderous footsteps coming from down the Hall, and he was fully aware that the girl's bathroom was at the end of said hallway.

Looking down the empty hallway, Harry saw it. It was a horrible sight. Fourteen feet tall, its skin was dull granite grey. It had a great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, hairy feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It smelled worse than Ron's dirty socks mixed with Sirius's breath after a night out. It was also holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along floor because its arms were so long.

Harry felt his heart stop as he watched the troll turn into the bathroom eliciting a shrieking scream from his best friend.

As he raced into the bathroom he saw her. She was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

Realizing he had to act fast, Harry brandished his wand and cast the most powerful blasting curse he could, causing the troll's raised club arm to be blown to smithereens, bits of blood and flesh showering the bathroom walls and floor.

Thankfully, the troll turned around to face this new target that had attacked it, leaving Hermione alone. The beast wasn't very quick but it sure was powerful. Even without its club or its right arm, the beast was managing to gain some ground on him as it threw bits of wreckage towards him.

Harry was furiously banishing the wreckage back at the troll, but it seemed to have no effect on the beast, it was as if his skin wasn't penetrable. If he was to be successful, he was going to have to cast spells that damaged the troll's interior. Mentally snapping himself for not realizing this sooner, Harry raised his wand to cast the bone-crushing curse at the 14-foot tall monster. The result was instantaneous. Loud moans of pain could be heard down the hallway as Harry broke every bone in its body reducing the beast to a great lump of ugly flesh in the middle of the bathroom.

After looking at the thing for quite some time Harry turned to go and comfort his friend. "Hermione are you all right?"

Hermione didn't answer. Instead she just threw herself at Harry clutching onto him as if he were her lifeline as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Shh… It's alright now, I'm sorry I didn't come and talk to you earlier; we thought it would be wiser to give you some space and let you cool down… We heard about the troll though and I came straight here. Hermione I was so scared…"

"You were scared!" screeched the bewildered girl. "Harry you saved me! I thought I was going to die, I didn't think there was any way I was going to make it out of this room alive. I thought I was all alone, that no one cared for me, and then you," she stopped for a moment to wipe her eyes before she continued, "You saved me Harry."

"Hermione you're not alone," said Harry. "You have friends and a family who love you. Do you have any idea how scared I was at the idea that I wouldn't get here fast enough? I thought I was going to lose you Hermione."

"I'm sorry Harry," gushed the still sobbing girl. "I know I haven't been that great of a friend this year… It's just that all the attention… It makes me feel… unwanted."

"Hermione! You're more than I ever wanted in a friend. I wouldn't trade your friendship for anything in the world. Never forget that you're not alone and that there are people who love and care deeply about you." Said Harry as he stroked her long bushy hair in an effort to console the distraught witch in his arms.

Harry couldn't see it, but these words brought a brilliant smile to Hermione's face.

Hermione however never got the chance to reply as Susan, Neville, McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell chose that moment to come racing into the bathroom. If the situation wasn't so dangerous, Harry thought their reaction to seeing the vanquished troll would be almost comical as the 5 people's eyes widened as they stared at the puddle of what was formerly a troll.

"What happened?" croaked Professor McGonagall, as Neville and Susan pushed past her to check on their friends.

Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and replied that when he heard about the troll he came to warn Hermione about it, but that the troll beat him into the bathroom first, so in order to protect Hermione, he attacked it.

"If that is true, I take it you've been holding back on your magical prowess Mr. Potter," spoke Professor Snape in a curious tone.

Harry didn't know if he should be more surprised at his tone of voice or the large rip on his pant legs that accompanied a large gash that extended from his knee down to his ankle. It looked like a very large bite mark of some kind.

When Snape whipped his cloak around to cover up the wound, Harry diverted his eyes to meet his eyes, purposely letting the Potions Master see the thoughts he wanted him to see at that moment. He still considered the greasy git to be more a foe than a friend but either way, allowing him to see what he was truly capable of might make him a little less open with his hostile attitude towards him.

Snape was surprised but what he saw in Harry's mind. The boy had been restraining himself all year as to not draw any more unwanted attention to himself or showing people up, in the hope that he could participate in a regular class like normal children his age.

Snape was definitely surprised at this information, but his passive exterior mask hid it well. His regular sneer remained fixed in place but inside his mind was racing. He struggled with the fact that the boy had so much power to go along with all the attention surrounding him, but he was even more surprised to learn that the boy wasn't flaunting any of it. Something his father would never have hesitated to do at the same age. Perhaps there really was some of Lily Evans in the boy after all. In fact, as Snape thought about it more and more, he realized that the boy in question may look like James but he was almost entirely Lily. From his modesty, to his intelligence the boy was as close to Lily than the witch herself. Snape couldn't believe the daunting realization that dawned on him at that moment, and decided that maybe it was just best to avoid the boy until he could properly grasp how he was supposed to feel towards the son of his mortal enemy and his only friend. He couldn't help but feeling a growing admiration and attachment towards the boy, _perhaps this is my chance to make things right with Lily again_, thought Snape with a smirk as he walked out of the bathroom.

Quirrell on the other hand was coming to a completely different realization: this night couldn't have gone any worse. Not only did he fail in examining the stone's defences, but he also managed to draw the suspicion of Severus. Cursing to himself he acknowledged that the boy had indeed become a very serious threat to his plan. If he could do this to his troll, then he couldn't risk attacking him head on, he would have to wait for the opportunity to present itself. With those thoughts the man stormed out of the bathroom to retire to his private quarters.

McGonagall had yet to make any comment as she continued to stare at the two young Gryffindors who were still firmly embraced in each other's arms.

Finally she spoke, "50 points to Gryffindor for your actions Mr. Potter I dare say you most likely saved a life today." Said the stern professor in a very solemn voice. "I do think its best to inform your parents as to what has happened today, please tell them that I will be personally look into how a 14 foot mountain troll made it through the school's wards and that I offer my deepest condolences regarding the whole incident."

The four friends just nodded their heads as they slowly walked out of the damaged bathroom to make their way back to the Gryffindor dormitories, to retrieve their mirrors and call their parents.

Before they got there however, Hermione asked Susan and Neville to carry on without them so that she could talk to Harry for a moment. As they watched their other 2 best friends continue up the staircase and out of sight, Harry turned to Hermione to ask her what was bothering her.

"Harry I just froze in there" started Hermione. "If you hadn't come to find me, I'd be dead right now. You saved my life Harry. I don't really know how to thank-you other than to promise that I'll be the best, best friend you can ever ask for." Said the uncomfortable girl as she broke into another dazzling smile and gave Harry a crushing hug.

"Hermione: two things." Squeaked Harry. "One, I need to breath," at this Hermione relaxed her hug a little but made no sign of letting go. "And second, that's what friends do, they look out for each-other. For whatever reason I've been given the power to defeat the Dark Lord, but I'll be damn if I'm not going to use it to protect the people I care about."

Hermione was suddenly very alert, as she pushed back from Harry to look into his shining green eyes. "What do you mean you've been given the power to defeat the Dark Lord, Harry?"

It was now Harry's turn to become very uncomfortable. "Umm… Before we came to Hogwarts, my parents pulled me aside for a conversation with Dumbledore to tell me something."

"What did they tell you?"

"I'll tell you. Just not here, and when we're with Neville and Susan as well. I want all three of you to know." Said Harry as he held up his hands to end any further questions, before pulling his friend up the staircase towards Gryffindor tower.


	19. Family Discussions

**Once again I don't own anything. Everything belongs to J.K.R.**

* * *

As Hermione and Harry climbed through the portrait hole of the fat lady, they were immediately confronted with the attention of their entire house.

"Umm. High guys," said Harry rather lamely as he scanned the crowd to look for Neville and Susan.

"Where were you?" asked Percy – I – want – to – be – Head Boy - Weasley stepping forward from the crowd to question the two first years, "Your friends Neville and Susan just arrived and all they said was that they had gone to get the teachers to help you two, so I repeat where were you and why didn't you follow me out of the Great Hall?"

"It was my fault," said Hermione quickly, not letting Harry take the fall after everything he had done for her. "Harry came to warn me about the troll since I wasn't at the feast. By the time he got to me the troll had trapped me in the 2nd floor bathroom…"

There were several loud gasps from the assembled students at this, and more than a few people began looking them over as if they expected to find an injury of some sort.

This only irritated Harry. As far as he was concerned, the whole disaster was caused because two of the Weasley's were determined to save their public image. Maybe if Ron hadn't been such a moron, or Percy had actually done his job properly for once, he wouldn't have had to slay a troll.

The problem was that Hermione wasn't about to address that issue, even if the whole thing wasn't her fault. For all her progress, she was still a twelve-year-old girl that held authority figures in high regard, and she wasn't about to go and make a scene by blaming everything on Ron and Percy. No, she would do the typical Hermione thing and take the blame herself if she thought it would make other people's lives easier. It was something that Harry both admired and hated in his best friend. He knew she was as strong willed as anyone, but sometimes he wished she would take more pride in standing up for herself. She was perfect as is; she didn't have to let other people's opinions affect her. Just the thought made him grow angry, and he swore he'd do a better job of standing up for his friends.

"The point is that we're fine now and the troll is dead, can we just eat our food in peace, please?" asked Hermione, attempting to lead Harry over to the large table where the remains of the Halloween feast lay.

The Gryffindor's were having none of it however as they began berating Harry with questions.

"Harry, mate. How did you really kill a troll?" asked Dean Thomas.

"Ooh, Harry can you give us a demonstration?" gushed a 6th year girl that Harry didn't recognize.

"Blimey Harry, is there anything you can't do?" asked a clearly awed Ron Weasley.

At this point Harry was beginning to lose his cool. His temper was extremely short after the tiring day he had so far, so he was finding it very difficult to control his magic that was swelling up inside him. It didn't escape anyone in the Gryffindor Common Room that the air surrounding the little dark haired wizard started to crackle as an invisible wind swirled itself around the boy making his hair stand up and sway side to side, as a golden glow seemed to shine out from him. Pulling Hermione towards him he made a step forward to face down the suddenly uncomfortable prefect Percy. "Look I don't want your praises okay? Yes I killed the troll with a series of bone-breaking curses, and no I don't want to have to do it again so don't ask me to repeat it. I don't know if it will surprise some of you or if you already assumed such, but yes I can do a lot of advanced magic for my age. That being said please don't flatter me or try to become my friend just because you want a piece of the boy-who-lived, you're only going to piss me off. I know who my real friends are, and I know how you guys have been treating them behind my back. You either leave me, Hermione, Susan and Neville alone or we're going to have a hard time. Got it?" asked the super powered 11 year old that was facing down his 60+ housemates.

Every last one of them could only nod dumbly at they stared wide-eyed at the level of power the little boy possessed, each of them coming to the conclusion that it probably wasn't the best idea to upset the person who had defeated a Dark Lord and a mountain Troll without so much of 1 year of experience of Hogwarts's classes.

Spotting Susan and Neville who were shuffling their feet nervously at the side of the room, Harry smiled at their obvious discomfort before heading over to his friends, and leading them up to the 1st year boy's dormitory.

"Ugh, you guys should really clean this place more often," said Susan plugging her nose, making Neville chuckle behind her as Harry pushed open the door to his dormitory.

The 1st year boy's dormitory was a sight to be held. In truth it was as messy as any dorm room could have been expected from five pre-pubescent boys, but in comparison to the girls dormitories it was a pig-sty. Just about every surface in the room was covered by some piece of dirty clothing. There were leftover food wrappers on the beds, mouldy food on the floor, and judging by his unused chest of drawers, it looked like Seamus was still living out of his trunk.

"Harry it smells almost as bad as the troll in here," said Hermione, her eyes starting to water from the smell.

Harry just shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "You get used to it after living in a dorm with Ron Weasley for two months," before he turned around and rummaged through the storage space of his trunk for the object he was looking for. He still had the Marauders Map in his pocket, as he had begun keeping it on him at all times, but for what he had planned he was going to need another one of his father's heirlooms.

After pulling out the invisibility cloak, Harry threw it to Neville and closed up his trunk, before once again leading them out of the boy's dormitories.

The whole house was still gathered downstairs in the common room, and the four first year Gryffindors could hear them whispering about them while they travelled down the stairs, but they stopped before they made it back to the common room.

Harry didn't say a word to any of them, he just continued to walk out the portrait whole with Hermione, Neville and Susan following behind him.

"Harry where are we going?" asked Susan as the 4 friends trounced down the stairs out of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Oh don't you worry about that," came the cheeky reply from Harry, as he examined the Marauders Map while continuing to lead his friends down the stairs.

After they had walked down onto the 5th floor, Harry finally stopped and told them to put on the invisibility cloak, before disillusioning himself.

"Kind of defeats the purpose of owning one of these things, if you can just make yourself invisible without it," said Susan with a large smirk on her face, though Harry wouldn't have been able to see it.

"Yeah well, it still serves its purpose," came the reply from the patch of air in front of them. "Are you all under it?"

"Yeah, what now?" asked Neville.

"Okay we're trying to get to the one-eyed witch statue at the end of this hallway. There's a secret passageway behind it that we'll take us to where we're going but to get there we're going to have to sneak past Mrs. Norris first."

"Wait, how did you know there's a secret passageway behind the statue, and just where is it supposed to take us to?"

Harry actually laughed at this. "Hermione, are you aware of who my father is or is that fact limited to Malfoy's? I've had his cloak and his map for over a month now, don't you think I would've done a little exploring?"

None of them said anything in response, but Harry could've sworn he heard a snort and a few giggles coming from behind him. He didn't need to see his friends to know that the snort of laughter was from Neville, the giggle was from Susan and his other friend Hermione was most likely just rolling her eyes at his antics. While the action amused him, he couldn't have their laughter giving them away, so he quickly decided to silence them, and erase their smell, with the help of a couple charms he had learned by living in a dormitory with four other guys for two months. It was probably a good thing he did too, as Mrs. Norris chose that exact moment to come sauntering around the corner. Her beady little eyes scanned the passageway for students, but thanks to their disguise, the four were easily able to sneak past her.

Cancelling the charm, Harry showed the others how to enter the secret passageway once they got to the one eyed witch statue, before waiting for them to follow suit behind him.

After a few seconds the 3 friends whipped off the cloak to reveal an amazed looking Susan Bones, a questioning looking Neville Longbottom and an angry looking Hermione Granger.

Silently laughing, he quickly decided to lift the charms on them, before his friend exploded.

"Harry James Potter! You tell me what we're doing right now, or so help me, I'll… I'll… It doesn't matter what I'll do but you can bet you'll be in for a world of hurt," threatened the impatient witch.

"Ok, ok calm down. Remember how I told you, my parents told me something important at the end of the year." At her nod he continued, "well I'm going to tell you, but we needed a quiet place to discuss it, and since I didn't know the full extent of the situation it was easier to have the parents do the talking."

The three friends were now looking at Harry like he had grown a second head.

"Ok look, the end of this passage-way leads to the basement of a store in Hogsmeade. We're going to meet the parents down there before apparating back to the Manor for a much needed family discussion."

This brought enormous smiles to the faces of his three friends at the prospect of seeing their family again as they raced down the hallway.

Harry could only laugh as he ran after them. Thanks to the numerous Quidditch practices, it didn't take long before he caught up to his friends who were already beginning to slow down from the long run.

A little while longer and Harry was lifting up the floor-tile that marked the entrance to the secret passageway into the school in the bottom of Honeydukes Sweet Shop, only to be swept off his feet by his parents.

"Harry!" Shrieked his mother (before berating her son with a thousand questions about his life at school) all the while never releasing her grasp on him.

"Lily you really should calm down, you'll have plenty of time to interrogate the lad once we get back to the Manor, although I must say I'm surprised you haven't started berating him for this idea of his to sneak out of the school after curfew…" said the smirking Remus Lupin.

Lily just stood their gaping at this proclamation while Sirius, Remus and James were grinning like madmen.

"I tell you Prongs, dear Lily here may have some Marauder in her after all," said Sirius.

"Well of course," said James, puffing out his chest a little. "Maybe now you'd be willing to accept Tiger-Lily here into the group."

However, before Sirius or Remus could make a response it was Hermione who broke into the conversation, "Oooh is that your animagus form? A tiger! Can we see it? Please," plead the little girl.

Lily just blushed deeply at this proclamation, and hid her mortified face into Harry's hair as much as possible. Sirius however, thought this was the funniest thing ever, and even James had a large grin on his face as he waggled his eyebrows at his wife.

"That's not her animagus form," laughed Sirius, "it's James bedroom nickname for her."

It was now the kids turned to be mortified as Harry wiggled furiously to untangle himself from his mother, as Hermione just stood there gaping.

"Sirius I swear I'm going to kill you," vented Lily. "I'm actually going to kill you."

Sirius just gave a victorious grin, James resisted the urge to smile, and Remus shook his head in disbelief. It might have been over fifteen years since he graduated Hogwarts with the man but Sirius Black hadn't changed one bit.

Putting the conversation behind them and pretending like it had never happened the group apparated back to the Manor in silence.

* * *

When they finally made it to the Manor they were immediately greeted by their large family. Dan and Emma were racing towards their daughter Hermione, as was Alice, Frank, Matthew and Joshua towards Neville, Amelia towards Susan and Sarah and Clarissa towards Harry.

After several hugs were exchanged the large group settled down long enough to hear the kid's stories of what's happened at school for the past few weeks.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," said James in a disbelieving voice. "You fought a wizarding duel against Malfoy's son, spent the past month having older woman gush over you as a result, and just now you rescued Hermione from a mountain troll?"

The mothers were now clinging to their children as they finished telling them about everything that had happened to them in the past month.

Harry could only nod guiltily unable to meet the gaze of anyone's eyes except for Hermione, Susan and Neville who were also extremely uncomfortable with the parent's reaction towards their story. It would have been one thing if they simply chastised them for being so reckless, but this unnerving silence was killing them. It was so uncomfortable they were actually waiting for the parents to start reprimanding them, anything to put an end to the silence.

However the word's that broke the silence weren't what any of the kids would have expected to hear from their over-protective parents as Sirius chose now of all times to diffuse the situation with one of his retorts. His whisper of, "that boy is a freaking genius!" could be heard by everyone in the large living room and even managed to produce a small chuckle out of most of the family members.

While James, Frank, Remus, Clarissa, Matthew, and Joshua were fighting to restrain their smiles, Alice, Lily, Sarah, Amelia, Emma, and Dan were anything but amused.

"You could've been killed," shrieked Sarah who was close to tears as she held onto her big brother.

"Sarah it's not like that, it's okay now," said Harry as he tried to calm down his emotional 7-year-old sister. "I did what I had to do, I had to help Hermione. She was the one in danger."

This proclamation had two different effects on the large family. Some of the members such as Dan, James, Sirius, Frank and Remus were proud of Harry for saving Hermione; while others like Lily, Sarah and Emma were still not appeased that the children could be so reckless.

"It's not like I went looking for danger, mum" said Hermione. "I was in the bathroom because people were making fun of me for the same stuff they used to when I went to Kensington private school; you know my appearances, intelligence and my lack of friends. If it hadn't been for Harry… Please don't be mad at him, he saved me."

"Hermione dear, we're not mad at Harry" began Emma in her kindest most motherly tone possible. "In fact if it weren't for all the other woman draped over him right now I'd give that boy a rib-crushing hug for saving my daughter. I'm more concerned about how you got yourself into this danger. Why were people making fun of you?"

Hermione was a little embarrassed to explain that she felt a little unwanted by all the other people who thought they deserved to be Harry Potter's friend, and that her old insecurities of not being good enough had led her to resort back to her old ways of answering every question possible in class to prove her worth. She was beyond happy however, when Harry put down his little sister to hold her hand and tell her once again to not listen to the other kids, that they're wrong and that he thinks she's brilliant and a great best friend. Neither of the two kids noticed all the smiles this brought to the rest of their family members, or the exchanged glance that Emma and Lily gave each other. It seemed that both mothers were convinced this friendship would one day become something more.

With that settled the large family broke about into a series of smaller talks, where James, and Sirius took Harry aside to tease him about his prowess with the ladies, while Dan and Emma talked to Hermione to see how she was really feeling. After being assured that their daughter was okay, the Granger's decided it best to talk to Lily to gain a better understanding of some of the prejudice Hermione was facing.

They weren't too happy to hear Lily's tale, and that their daughter most likely had it worse off thanks to the fame surrounding the 4 friends but the parents agreed that the best way to persevere was with the help of their friendships.

No one in the family seemed ready to go to bed yet, as apparently the younger children had all slept during the day so they could be up at night to talk to their older brothers and sisters.

They learned a lot during the 5-hour discussion. The parents learned that the kids had been through a lot more than they had originally imaged, and although they hit rough patches, it appeared that they had come out stronger than ever. They also learned much to their chagrin, that it wouldn't be too long before they were going to have to start dealing with childhood romances as it seemed Harry was having quite a way with the witches of Hogwarts, Hermione in particular.

What the kids weren't ready for however was the dark turn the discussion took towards the end of the conversation.

It was James who brought it up. He was having a hard time digesting just how much his son had been through in the past month and how much more he would have to undergo. While he seemed to think the duel with Malfoy was brilliant, he wasn't too happy to learn how the impending reaction had affected the 4 children. The troll was another story. It was one thing to have an adventure, but it was another thing entirely to be put in life-threatening situations. He knew his son would have to face many of these things with the darn prophecy hanging over his head, but he had just hoped he wouldn't have to deal with any so soon. _Who am I kidding_, thought James. _The boy had to face the Dark Lord before he even turned 2! If what Dumbledore says is true and Voldemort really is still out there, he'll be coming back for us._ He really didn't want to have to voice these thoughts to the rest of the family but they had to know, for their own safety. He wasn't sure how they would take it, or if it was even wise to trust such a large group with such vital information, but everyone in this room was family to him now, and they had all be trained in the art of Occlumency. Whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to get over his reminder of betrayal and the memory of Peter, he had to learn to trust again if he was to be able to hold the trust of others. It was also a mental block that he had noticed his son had developed from the incident, so deciding to lead by example; he opened the discussion to darker topics to the group.

"There's something we have to tell you guys. Something that we should have told you years ago." He began in a rasp shaky voice, unable to meet anyone's eyes but Harry's. Almost as if he knew what his father was going to say, or that he just trusted him completely, the little boy gave James a smile of encouragement that lifted his spirits and gave him the strength to speak the harsh truth to everyone in the room. "Before Harry was born there was a prophecy made. Only Dumbledore knows the exact wording, but it spoke of a child that would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord. The child would be born at the end of the 7th month, to parents that have thrice defied him. That prophecy could have applied to either Harry or Neville, and that's why we went into hiding when they were born." He had to stop to gather his thoughts here, but never took his eyes off the boy in front of him who was still giving him a smile of encouragement. "As you know, Harry seems to have been born with this 'power' as he managed to vanquish the Dark Lord when he was a toddler and even used this power to save Frank, Alice, Lily and myself. What you don't know is that while I'm proud to hear Harry's using this power to help his friends in times of danger, just by being Harry's friend you're going to get yourself into more danger." There was a rather uncomfortable silence that met this statement, but from the sight of seeing Hermione, Neville and Susan all walk to sit on the couch beside Harry, James got the impression that these kids were willing to take on the danger and stand by his son. "According to Dumbledore Voldemort didn't die that night." This statement caused several people's eyes to widen in shock most notably Amelia's. "His spirit was ripped from his body. It was his body that was killed, Voldemort himself isn't human enough anymore to die, supposedly he is still out there waiting to come back again, and when he will, he will come after us, because Harry is the only one who can stop him. He will continue to attack Harry in the hope that he can eliminate him, because if he can do so, he will be invincible."

No one seemed able to say anything at this declaration, each person battling with their own inner turmoil as to how this would affect their family's lives.

When someone did finally manage to speak up, it was Harry.

"Then I guess I'll just have to be ready to fight him," he said in a cool tone, still locking eyes with his father. He could see sorrow, regret, and pain in the older man's eyes and was desperately trying to console him with his gaze. He couldn't move if he wanted to as he now had both of his sisters clutching one of his legs, his mother tangled around his torso who was hugging the life out of him, and his friends who were all sitting protectively around him.

"I know you will Harry, it just pains me that the burden of all this lies with you. But don't think for a second we're letting you do this alone. We're here to help you Harry, and when the time is right we'll be there fighting by your side." Came the quiet raspy voice of his father as he maintained eye contact with Harry, a lone tear rolling down his cheek from his left eye

He could feel his mother nodding her head in the affirmative beside him, he could feel his sisters doing the same against his shins, he could feel each of his friends place a hand on his arms in a show of support that they would do the same, and he could see each of the rest of the rooms occupants nodding their heads.

He felt touched that his family was doing this for him, but it still didn't stop him from feeling terrible about the whole situation. He couldn't help but feel a sense of dread that all of this, any danger towards them, was because of him.

His mother however, didn't even need to hear him articulate these thoughts to know what he was thinking as she pushed herself back from her son to look him in the eyes.

"Harry" she croaked through her tears, "don't think for a second this is your fault, if anyone is to blame it's Dumbledore, somehow when he heard the prophecy he never thought to put up silencing charms. The result was that Voldemort got word of the prophecy, although according to Dumbledore he didn't hear the full thing… Anyway that's not important right now, what's important is that we're not letting you do this alone. You can't blame yourself for the danger that will find you, if anything you can blame Voldemort the next time you have to see him…" she had to stop here to wipe the tears away from her eyes, before she reached down and pulled Harry's chin up to look at her. "Harry, we love you, and we want to help you, and nothing you can say is going to change that, the only way we're going to get through this, is if we do it together, as a family."

Harry couldn't find the words to respond. He just hugged his mother firmly and nodded into her shoulder.

Deciding that any further discussion would most likely not have anyone's full interest, and that judging by the sleeping form of Clarissa attached to Harry's right leg (it was well past bedtime), James got out of his seat to put the girl to bed. It seemed this was the sign needed for everyone to go to bed, as the parents gave the children one more round of hugs goodbye before heading off to their bedrooms in the Manor leaving Sirius and Remus to apparate the children back to Hogsmeade.

How the four kids had the energy to walk through that long tunnel before climbing all the way back to Gryffindor Tower they would never know, but three hours of restless sleep was no way to replenish it.

* * *

James, Lily, Frank, Alice and the younger children had all retired to bed as well, but Remus, Amelia, Sirius, Dan and Emma sat at the kitchen table going over what they had just learned.

To hear that the Dark Lord wasn't as dead as they had been led to believe changed everything, and even though they could understand how hard it was for Lily and James to reveal the information they had, they were slightly miffed they hadn't done so earlier.

Now they were in a position where they didn't have a clue as to where or what Voldemort was up to. If only they had known this information earlier, they could have done a better job of ensuring that marked death eaters weren't allowed to go free on something as ridiculous as the claim that they were under the Imperius. I mean for Merlin's sake all they would've had to do was to lift up their left sleeve to see if they were marked or not, but Fudge hadn't even bothered to do so. No doubt because he thought the problem was already solved and he stood to gain quite a lot of gold if he went along with Malfoy's story.

It enraged them to think of how things could have turned out differently if this information hadn't been withheld from people that needed to know, but even when they travelled into work the next morning, Amelia found that she couldn't broach the subject with anyone in her department aside from Alice and Frank, and they already knew about the subject. Needless to say if you thought she was angry about not having learned this information years ago, it was nothing compared to when the Longbottoms revealed that Dumbledore had cast a version of the Fidelius charm on the subject, so that both the prophecy and the Dark Lord's survival could be talked about with those they trusted undoubtedly; family.

While it was all well and done to take precautions to make sure the information didn't fall into the wrong hands, Amelia was ready to rip the old man apart for the information he had withheld from those who were on a need-to-know basis.

She could hardly wait until Harry's first Quidditch match. She was going to have a nice long talk with the Headmaster, and she was going to get some answers.

* * *

Ron for his part decided to take Harry's warning to heart, considering he was one of the major offenders for insulting Hermione so much.

However that didn't mean he was going to give up on his quest to befriend the boy-who-lived. He was determined to gain a piece of Harry's fame, and wasn't about to give up yet, he just had to change his approach.

While Ron wasn't particularly strong at scheming like his older twin brothers, and had an unusually short and irate temper like his mother, if there was one thing he had going for him it was that he knew how to get certain reactions out of people.

After all, the boy had grown up in the presence of 5 older brothers, all of which had risen to the top of their prospective fields. Being the youngest son of the family meant that he was used to having to fight for his share. He didn't have the benefit of being hand-fed like his younger sister Ginny.

Ron however was no workhorse. In fact, he was probably one of the laziest wizards in existence. Still, this would be worth it. If he could find a way to befriend Harry Potter, everything would become easier for him. He'd have the fame, the glory, and the money to make all of his dreams come true. The only problem was that he had put his foot in it to start their friendship. He figured his best bet was to apologise to Hermione, and have his mother send Harry a gift basket as a Christmas present. Than maybe he could start trying to make inroads with the four famous first years at the start of second term.

With his plan thought out, Ron drifted off into a peaceful sleep, thinking about all the fame he would get as Harry Potter's best friend.

* * *

**Well I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Next up will be the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.  
**


	20. Quidditch

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves and enormous beaver skin boots.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. His father had spent hours telling him stories of his games back when he was in school, and Harry was beyond excited. If Gryffindor won, they would surpass Slytherin and move into first place in the house championship. The anticipation for the game was immense.

Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret. Only Hermione, Susan, Neville and his teammates had seen him fly, and they were simply ecstatic at the prospect of winning the Quidditch cup with their new prodigy, Harry Potter playing seeker.

After yet another early morning practice with the team, Harry showered and walked out of the changing rooms with the Weasley twins to head down for breakfast in the Great Hall.

He quickly spotted that Neville, Hermione and Susan were all up, and had saved him a seat in their usual spot at the Gryffindor table and was amused to see that the Weasley twins joined them.

After eating a large breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon the casual morning discussion turned to one of plotting and pranks before Ron, Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvarti joined the group at the table to have their breakfast.

However their discussion was interrupted when the post owl delivery came. As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry was just as interested as everyone to see what was in this large parcel and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his discarded plate of bacon to the floor.

He couldn't help himself, Harry ripped into the package without a second thought to reveal a brand-spanking new Nimbus 2000!

There were several loud gasps as people along the table saw the new top of the line broom.

"A Nimbus 2000!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."

Students from around the hall were now racing over to their section of the Gryffindor table to get a good look at the iconic broom.

While many were pleading with Harry for a chance to fly the broom, it was Malfoy who managed to squirm his way to the front of the crowd, eager to harass the boy who had humiliated him earlier in the year.

"Well, well, well Potter. I see you've got yourself a broomstick," Malfoy said with a large sneer plastered on his face.

No one paid much attention to Ron whispering under his breath "Not just any broomstick, it's a Nimbus 2000". The redhead was practically bouncing with glee at the prospect of flying his friend's new broom, _how great is it to be friends with Harry Potter!_ Thought Ron.

"First years aren't allowed a broomstick Potter, surely your father would have explained that rule to you, or are you just exempt from the rules because you're so special." Drooled the blonde-haired Slytherin.

"You're quite right Mr. Malfoy" came the voice of Professor McGonagall as the crowd moved aside to grant her passage. "First years aren't allowed a broomstick since they don't have a hope of playing for their house team. Mr. Potter here, however is an exception. After seeing him fly, the Headmaster was willing to give Mr. Potter permission to own a broomstick if he made the Gryffindor Quidditch team. May I take it from the new broom you have Harry, that you were successful in making the team?"

Harry could only nod dumbly as the Weasley twins slapped him on the back in a sign of support, as everyone's eyes fell on the little boy who had managed to beat the odds again. Several of them were looking at Harry with such awe and wonderment he was beginning to squirm, most noticeably Lavender, Parvarti and Ron Weasley.

"That fact aside Mr. Potter" said McGonagall holding up her hands to silence the whispers of the assembled student. "When I gave your father permission to purchase you a broom, I specifically told him to deliver it to you in private, so that not everyone would see it and ask for their own. Seeing as that didn't happen, I think it would be best if I held onto the broom for you. You can have it back after the match on Saturday, and of course for any practices before then." Said McGonagall in her usual stern voice as she gathered up the package that contained the Nimbus 2000 and strode out of the Hall, leaving behind several gaping students.

Ron was the first one to break the silence, "Blimey Harry! You made the House Team! Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Harry could only shrug his shoulders and explain that thanks to Malfoy, McGonagall had arranged for him to try out for the position with Oliver Wood. It was supposed to be kept secret, but judging by the numerous students who were now either congratulating him, or telling him they'd be there to catch him with a mattress when he falls, he wouldn't be surprised if the whole school knew about it by the next day.

* * *

In an attempt to escape the attention surrounding him after that morning's owl post, Harry decided to head over to the Owlery to see Hedwig and write a letter to his family. He felt rather bad that he'd hardly sent any deliveries with the post owl, since the only people he needed to communicate with was his family and it was easier to use his mirror for that. He was worried that she might think he was ignoring her, so he had made a point of spending some quiet time with her every weekend. She seemed to appreciate it, but he could tell that she was eager for to make a delivery. He kept telling her that she'd have to wait until the New Year, as that was when all the adult birthdays were in the family and he'd have several packages for her to deliver for him and his three best friends.

When he finally made it up to the top of the tower, he called down the beautiful snowy owl and tied the letter to her leg, giving her a piece of bacon as he did so.

Never one to turn down such a delicious treat, Hedwig made quick work of the peace offering, despite having already had a delicious rat for breakfast. It seemed like every time Harry came to visit her she was getting bigger and bigger.

"Hey girl, can you take this to my parents please?"

Hedwig just looked at him as if she was offended that he might insinuate that she wasn't able to complete the task, causing Harry to chuckle at her behaviour.

After he had given her another piece of bacon, Hedwig's attitude improved and she gave him and affirmative hoot as she rubbed her head in his hair, giving his left ear an affectionate nip before taking off and flying south towards the Manor.

Clarissa, Sarah, Joshua and Matthew were spending that afternoon in the library when Hedwig suddenly flew through the window to land on the top of Sarah's chair.

The four kids immediately recognized Harry's familiar, as Joshua ran off to find the parents and get some treats for the bird.

When they finally returned the other three kids were nearly bouncing in their seats in anticipation to open the letter from their big brother.

When her mother gave her the go ahead Sarah tore open the letter and began to read it out loud for everyone in the room to hear.

_Dear Family,_

_ First off I'd just like to say thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't believe you got me a Nimbus 2000! Unfortunately I haven't gotten the chance to ride it yet since McGonagall is keeping it safe for me because apparently I wasn't supposed to open it at the House Table. (Would have appreciated a note telling me what the package was and not to open it in front of everyone by the way) _

_ Anyways, so now that everyone knows I'm the new seeker for Gryffindor, I guess you can add making the house team as a first year to the long list of impossible feats completed by Harry Potter. No one besides Hermione, Neville, Susan and my teammates have seen me fly yet, so I guess they're all in for a surprise when Gryffindor opens the Quidditch season against Slytherin this Saturday. I'm really looking forward to seeing you guys again at the game, and I've even arranged with Dumbledore to give the Grangers magical bracelets that will allow them inside the Hogwarts wards, so I'm really hoping the whole family can make it. Write me a reply if this works for you, as we'd love to give the kids and the Grangers a tour of the castle._

_ Hope everyone is doing well back home, we're doing fine here at school, and no we haven't gotten ourselves into any danger since our last talk. I guess that's going to have to become a customary notice whenever we exchange letters, but don't worry I promise I'll let you know if anything dangerous has happened._

_ Looking forward to seeing you guys on Saturday and hoping that we can have the whole family together over the coming Christmas holidays,_

_Your Son,_

_Harry Potter_

"Well, it looks like we're all going to Hogwarts," said James causing the children to break into cheers, as the parents exchanged smiles and a few chuckles.

* * *

As Harry walked down to the staff quarters to meet Professor McGonagall that Thursday evening to retrieve his Nimbus 2000 for his last practice before Saturday's game he was greeted with the unsettling sight of Severus Snape having his bleeding leg tended to by the caretaker Argus Filch. He didn't understand what had happened to the Professor, but it was safe to assume from Snape's ranting that the, 'three headed monster' had caused the gash – whatever that was. Harry didn't really understand what this could possibly mean, but understood that it probably wasn't a conversation he was supposed to overhear, so he simply closed the door quietly and waited out in the Hall for McGonagall to come give him his broom so he could head off to practice.

* * *

Saturday morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

"You've got to eat some breakfast pup," prodded Sirius, drowning his sausages in ketchup.

"I don't want anything," mumbled Harry and turning away from the sight of his godfather's meal.

"Just a bit of toast," pleaded Lily, (the whole family had come to Hogwarts bright and early to meet the kids and spend the day with them) you'll be hungry later if you don't.

"But I'm not hungry," repeated Harry, playing with his fork.

Harry felt terrible. In an hour's time he'd be walking on to the pitch for his first game, and his whole body was practically shaking with nerves.

"Harry you need your strength," said James. "I know how you're feeling, I felt like I'd be sick to my stomach before my first game too, but you have to eat. Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team."

Harry stiffened slightly at that, causing Lily to smack her husband on the shoulder, but Harry did eventually give in and eat a few slices of French toast.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

The whole family sat in the top row of the Gryffindor section of the stands, and had even prepared a large banner as a surprise for Harry that read _Potter for President!_

Meanwhile, in the changing rooms, Harry and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet and gold Quidditch robes.

Wood cleared his throat for silence.

"OK, men," he said.

"And woman," chided Angelina

"And woman," Wood agreed. "This is it!"

"The big one," said Fred Weasley.

"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harry. "He used the same speech for the game against Slytherin last year."

"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it. Good luck and play hard."

Hoping his knees weren't going to give way, Harry followed his teammates out of the room and onto the pitch to thunderous cheers.

Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the pitch waiting for the two teams, her broom in hand.

"Now I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered together in the center of the arena. Harry noticed that she seemed to be speaking directly towards the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a large burly 6th year. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing _Potter for President_ over the crowd. His heart skipped. He felt braver.

"Mount your brooms please."

Harry clambered on to his Nimbus 2000.

Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too, to bad she seems to be another one of those girls interested in Harry Potter. Speaking of which look at the boy fly! Have you ever seen someone go that fast, he's flying circles around everyone up there!"

Lee Jordan, the Weasley twins' friend who was doing the commentary for the match closely monitored by Professor McGonagall, wasn't lying - Harry was easily two times faster than the next fastest person in the air. It seemed that as many people who were watching the two teams fight over the Quaffle, were also watching the boy-who-lived swerve in and out of formations at break-neck speeds all around the stadium.

Harry could hear the commentary of Jordan, describing the save Wood made on Marcus Flint, or the goal by Alicia assisted by Katie Bell, but all he was concerned with was finding the golden snitch. He thought he had seen it at one point but it was just a reflection of one of the Weasley twins watch.

Meanwhile as Harry raced through the air, his family was watching anxiously in the stands below.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!"

Neville and Hermione had to squeeze in closer to their parents, to give Hagrid enough room to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," said Neville. "Harry's just been flying around giving his mother a heart-attack."

James actually laughed at this and reached over to clap the boy on the shoulder as he pulled the shaking Lily into an embrace. She had always hated Quidditch and it seemed it was taking every bit of effort she had to refrain from turning away from the game. He knew she was terrified of flying and the danger present in the sport, but that wasn't going to stop her from allowing her son from doing something he loved, even if she couldn't fathom why he loved it in the first place.

Way up above them, Harry was now gliding over the game, squinting for some sign of the Snitch.

Suddenly, Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downwards after the streak of gold. Slytherin seeker Terence Higgs had seen it too and he was much closer to it. Thankfully his speed allowed him to make up the ground fairly quickly, and it was soon turned it into a neck and neck race as they hurtled towards the Snitch.

The Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in mid-air to watch.

Harry was faster than Higgs – he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead – he put on an extra spurt of speed –

WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below – Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose and Harry's broom span off course, Harry holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

"So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating –"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul –"

"Jordan, I'm warning you – "

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Angelina Johnson, who puts it away no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

It was as Harry dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past his head that it happened. His broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a split second, he thought he was going to fall. He gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and knees. He'd never felt anything like that.

It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to knock him off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Harry tried to turn back towards the Gryffindor goal posts; he had half a mind to ask Wood to call a time out – and then he realised that his broom was completely out of control. He couldn't turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated him, all the while drifting higher and higher away from the game.

His family was in a frantic in the stands down below. His sisters were crying as they held onto Hagrid for support, Lily was fighting back tears unable to watch, and the rest of the adults were too shocked to do anything.

Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" whispered Neville.

"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" moaned Susan, getting the attention of Remus and Sirius who were sitting beside her. Hagrid paid her no heed. He was too busy trying to console the two little girls that were sobbing into his moleskin coat.

"I knew it," Hermione gasped, handing the binoculars to Susan. "Look at Snape."

Susan grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering non-stop under his breath.

"He's doing something – jinxing the broom," whispered Hermione.

"I'll kill him. That bastard." Growled Sirius.

"What should we do? He's too far away to fire a spell, and it doesn't look like Harry can hold on for much longer," asked a very ashen faced Remus Lupin.

"Leave it to me." Said Hermione and before anyone could say another word, she disappeared.

Susan turned the binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard; it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd were on their feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasley twins flew up to try and pull Harry safely on to one of their brooms, but it was no good – every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled below him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored 5 times without anyone noticing.

"Come on, Hermione," Neville muttered desperately.

* * *

Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood, silently pleading with Harry to hold on just a little bit longer, as she raced along the row behind the Slytherin Head of House. She didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell head first into the row in front. Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand and whispered a few, well-chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand on to the hem of Snape's robes.

It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket she scrambled back along the row – Snape would never know what happened.

* * *

Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom, though if anyone had been able to see his face at that moment they would have known how terrified he was. He didn't know what had happened to his broom and he half expected it to do it again. It only made him more determined to end the game before that could happen.

"Lily you can look!" screamed James. She had been sobbing into James's jacket for the past five minutes, as were Sarah and Clarissa onto Hagrid.

The game commenced with a thunderous wave of applause from the crowd, Gryffindor was down 110 – 70 but Harry Potter was alive, and that was cause for celebration.

When Hermione finally made it back to the section of the stands where she had been sitting, she was immediately embraced by the Potter females as they took turns thanking her profusely for saving Harry. Sirius and James were howling with laughter to learn that Hermione had set the git's robes on fire, while Lily, Sarah and Clarissa wouldn't even let go of the little girl long enough for her parent's to get to her.

As Harry sped off towards the Slytherin goalposts he once again caught sight of the Golden Snitch, though to his horror it was only meters away from Terence Higgs, fluttering behind his back. He could only hope that the 7th year wouldn't see it until he could get a little closer to him, before he could make a mad sprint for it.

Unfortunately he didn't get so lucky. He was still roughly 30 meters away from the Slytherin and the Snitch, when it took a sharp turn and flew underneath Higgs as it dove towards the crowd. The crowd was on its feet to watch the two seekers pull into a headfirst dive pushing their brooms to the limits as they chased the Golden Snitch.

Higgs had a big head start but Harry was much faster and quickly caught up to the larger seeker once again, before Higgs was able to build up enough momentum where his increased mass allowed him to maintain a higher velocity.

The result was that once each player reached their maximum speed, they effectively matched each other inch for inch. It seemed like if one of them were going to catch the snitch off of this play, it wouldn't be off of speed alone.

Higgs was no fool. He had played plenty of Quidditch games to know this. If he wanted to beat Potter, all he had to do was be a little more aggressive with him.

Being less than half his size, Harry had to try and avoid Higgs or risk being knocked off his broom. The result was Harry jerking left and right to try and avoid the Slytherin's swings as they dove downwards side by side.

The ground was getting closer and closer; 50 feet, 30 feet, 20 feet, still neither boy made any attempt to pull up chasing the snitch which was only a few feet in front of them. At 10 feet Harry watched Higgs façade break as the Slytherin seeker pulled out of the dive in attempt to avoid a collision, but Harry was still going. He didn't pull up until he was only a couple feet from the ground, having to use his feet to adjust and pull his broom horizontal in time to avoid a nasty crash landing.

Back in the Gryffindor section of the crowd, the Marauders, Frank and Dan we're all on their feet screaming encouragement while Lily, Hermione and Emma couldn't bare to watch.

They could hear the others describing the scene, Harry now standing on his broom, flying level across the grassy pitch, only a couple feet behind the elusive Snitch, with Higgs somewhere behind him, and it was enough to give them nightmares. How that boy could be so reckless was beyond them.

Harry was going so fast that he could no longer hear the gasps or shouts of encouragement from the crowd over the noise of the wind howling in his ears.

Taking a step closer to try to grab the Golden ball, Harry felt himself tip the broom, sending him launching through the air, and rolling across the crisp grass of the muddy pitch.

The crowd gasped as they watched Harry Potter tumble onto the pitch, with his hands clasped over his mouth as though he was about to be sick – he pulled himself up until he was on all fours – coughed – and something gold fell into his hand.

"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion and jubilation. His teammates were ecstatic! It was their first win since Charlie Weasley had left 2 years ago.

Wood was running around screaming at the top of his lungs, the twins were shooting fireworks into the air from their wands, and the three Gryffindor Chasers; Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell all pulled Harry into a rib crushing embrace and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference – Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the result – Gryffindor had won 280 – 150. Harry heard none of this though as he had gone to celebrate his victory with his family.

* * *

"You guys go on and celebrate back at the castle, I've got some pumpkins I need to attend to," said Hagrid. "Do me a favour and pay me a visit when you get a chance."

"Sure thing Hagrid, we'll come see you tomorrow morning, take care," said Hermione as they waited for Harry to finish changing. James, Sirius and Frank were still bouncing around excitedly from Harry's marvellous catch, while Lily, Sarah and Clarissa hadn't released him until Harry had to go into the showers, as they were still shook up at how close Harry had come to falling off his broom. It seemed that considering their reaction to watching their first Quidditch game, Harry would probably be the only one of the Potter children to play Quidditch. A shame considering James had been extremely vocal in pointing out that they could easily have a second Potter to play for Gryffindor when Clarissa makes it to Hogwarts, as apparently the little girl was an exceptional flyer like her big brother. At that moment however it didn't look like anything would get the little girl onto a broomstick. Even Matthew and Joshua, who usually loved thrills, were having doubts as to how much they wanted to play Quidditch after what they had just witnessed. You'd have to be insane to play that game.

As soon as Harry walked out of the changing rooms with his teammates he was immediately bowled over by the Potter witches once again, all of them berating him for flying like such a madman, before the Marauders were able to untangle them and direct them back up to the castle.

It was a short walk, but they did get to hear Harry's tale of the events. Apparently he didn't have a clue as to what went wrong with his broom, it just suddenly stopped working. Up until that point and even after it fixed itself, it had felt like an extension of his body, like he could do anything on it.

James looked like he was ready to go on another rant about 'Snivellus' but Lily shut him up with a sharp glare and an elbow to the stomach. She didn't want to hear that kind of language in front of the kids, especially the younger ones.

Grumbling, James carried on walking with Lily on his arm, while the children ran off in front.

* * *

The tour itself didn't last very long as everyone was still hung up on the Quidditch game they had just witnessed to give the castle the level of attention it deserved.

Deciding to leave the reminiscing for another visit, the Marauders & Longbottoms led the kids and Grangers up into the Gryffindor Common Room while Lily and Amelia slipped out to have a quick word with a Professor.

The Weasley twins, the rest of the Quidditch team and a few of the upper years had taken the liberty of throwing a part in celebration of their victory, but the kids were too tired to enjoy it, choosing to retire shortly after their parents and younger siblings had returned home once again.

* * *

"SEVERUS!" Howled an irate Lily Potter as she stormed into the Potions Masters classroom. "Care to tell me why you were trying to kill my son!" spat the witch.

Snape looked like someone had branded him with a red-hot pipe. "Lily I wasn't trying to hurt the boy," said the pale face wizard, "I was… I was trying to save him."

Lily could hardly believe this, as the two had not ended things on good terms. She was sceptical that he was telling the truth but the emotion she saw in the usually stone faced man's eyes gave her reason to believe him.

"Why would you want to help my son?" asked the fiery witch, crossing her arms and staring down at her one time friend.

Snape's eyes were downcast. He tried to look up at the most important person in his life, but he couldn't bare to see the anger in her eyes directed at him, so instead he kept his eyes on the floor, his face showing his shame. "I… I've been watching him… I was all prepared to hate the boy for being the son of James Potter but… I couldn't… Every time I watch him… I'm reminded of Lily Evans… The boy is the only reminder I have left of the friend I so badly betrayed… I… I was hoping that maybe if I could make peace with the boy… I could make peace with you."

Lily just stood there shocked. She couldn't speak; she just stood there glaring at the man that had once been her best friend.

Finally after watching her old-friend carefully for a few minutes she spoke. "I need to know if you're telling me the truth. Dumbledore may vouch for you, but you've yet to prove anything to me. I want an oath that what you just said was true… all of it."

Snape didn't waist ay time. He calmly took out his wand and made the oath, swearing on his magic and his life that what he had said was true, and that he would never willingly do anything to harm her or her son.

"Lily, I know I made a mistake… Is there any way you can ever forgive me?" asked the now ashen Professor.

The fire in Lily's eyes dissipated, though she was still wary of the man in front of her. She had been betrayed by him once before and she wasn't going to be quick to put her trust back in his hands.

Snape looked like his life was depending on her answer, and his legs nearly gave out when he heard it.

"I don't know if I can Severus… But helping my son, is certainly a good way to earn my acceptance," was all she said before turning and walking out of the room to re-join her family, leaving behind a Potions Master who was now silently weeping at the thought of his past actions. He wished he could do it all over again. To go back and time and prevent himself from betraying her, to stop himself from allowing James Potter to steal the most precious thing he'd ever had, and yet he couldn't. It was over, she had already made her choice, and now he was forced to live with the constant reminder of his actions. He had to make it up to her; he was lost without her in his life. He had made the switch back to the light side because of the regret he felt for betraying her, but none of that compared to the sorrow of watching her with his mortal enemy. And yet the only hope he had of reconnecting with her was her son, the spitting image of the boy he despised more than anyone. He knew what he had to do… He had to prove himself to Harry Potter. Even the mention of the name made him shudder. No, Harry Evans, it was easier to think of him that way. He was still undecided on how he should feel towards the boy; a part of him felt emotionally attached to the lad, while another part of him loathed him to the core. It seemed that he was a blend of both of his parent's, his modesty coming from his mother, and his flying abilities coming from his father. He simply chose to ignore different qualities depending on whether he was in the mood to hate or admire the lad. He knew though, deep down, that if he wanted to be happy, he would have to put aside his hate and make amends with the Potters.

If not, than he might as well just end his life that very moment, the only reason he had for living was Lily and that was the only way to get back into her life.

* * *

"Albus Dumbledore! You're going to tell me right now why I wasn't informed of You-Know-Who's survival! That information could have changed lives, and by withholding it, you've prevented the proper authorities from doing their jobs!" growled Amelia as soon as the Headmaster had allowed her into his office.

It seemed the old man had been expecting this conversation, as he already had his answer prepared.

"My dear, I chose to withhold the information because at the time the Ministry couldn't be trusted with such. Death Eaters had infiltrated every Department, and if they had caught word of what had happened to the Dark Lord that night than they never would have given up on him. The war would have continued and we would have lost many more lives. I'm not happy with what I did, but it had to be done for the greater good of our society."

Amelia looked like she could spit fire after hearing that. She was not happy with that answer, but what made her even madder was that she couldn't fault his logic. As much as it angered her to say so, the Headmaster was most likely right.

Trying to control her temper, Amelia gripped the edge of the desk that she was leaning over and whispered, "What happened? I want to know everything you believe happened that night, and I want to know now."

Dumbledore just sighed and got out of his chair to look into his pensieve at the side of the room. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure as to how Tom Riddle had survived that night but he couldn't dispute that he had.

He revealed that he had seen the outline of the Dark Mark on a Death Eater's forearm since that night, and knew from the faded outline that he wasn't truly dead.

He told her of his suspicions about the mysterious break in at Gringotts before the beginning of this year, and that it was his belief that Voldemort was behind it.

In the end, Amelia wasn't happy with what she had learned from her brief visit with the old man, but her temper was appeased. The Headmaster had definitely been active building up his fair share of secrets over the past ten years, and she knew that they all concerned Harry Potter one way or another.

Wizard of the light or not, Amelia knew that Dumbledore was not above using the ends to justify the means, and she would not let that child be put in danger.

* * *

**Hope you liked that chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think about Snape. He's going to be a pretty big character going forward though I can tell you right now I have no intention of writing Lily/Severus. **


	21. Unleashing your Inner Marauder

It was the morning after Gryffindor's big victory, and Harry and his friends had already eaten breakfast in a nearly empty Great Hall. The Slytherins seemed to be too ashamed to show their ugly faces in public just yet, while most of the older Gryffindors were nursing something called a hangover.

The party they had thrown last night had been pretty awesome. Fred and George had managed to swipe some food from the kitchens, two seventh year boys had smuggled in some butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks, and the Marauders had even produced four bottles of Firewhiskey for the elderly students to enjoy, saying that they were simply returning the favour. The only thing they asked for in return was that they don't mention whom they got it from, especially to any of the teachers, or heaven forbid, Lily. That certainly wouldn't go over well if the rest of the family found out.

Hermione hadn't been too pleased about this, but chose to ignore it simply because it didn't seem to bother the other three. As they had explained it, the Marauders would have plenty of opportunities to put themselves in the doghouse within the next few days, so it hardly even mattered if they told about this one.

The party itself probably would have gone on until three in the morning if not later, had it not been for Professor McGonagall breaking the whole thing up after midnight and sending everyone up to their rooms. However, instead of ending the party like this was supposed to, it merely shifted the setting to the dormitories where most of the students (particularly the older ones) stayed up late into the night.

As a result when the four friends had gone down to breakfast, they weren't surprised to see that there wasn't a single student over second year sitting down at the Gryffindor table.

This didn't bother them however, as they simply ate quietly before heading down to visit with Hagrid.

The man wasted no time in congratulating Harry for his exceptional flying skills, though he did ask him if he had ever found out what had happened to his broom to make it act like it did.

"It was Snape," explained Susan. "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing his broomstick, muttering. He wouldn't take his eyes off him."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands, over the screams of the crowd. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

The 4 kids looked at each other, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the truth.

"I found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past the three-headed monster at Halloween. It bit him. We think he's trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid dropped the teapot he was using to pour each of the 4 kids a beverage.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said in a startled tone.

"Fluffy?" came the indignant reply from Neville, "Hagrid, what's 'fluffy' about a three headed monster? It's a menace!"

"Nonsense! Fluffy is as tame as a puppy. Bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the –"

"Yes?" said Harry eagerly, but Hagrid managed to stop himself.

"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it!"

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"My auntie told me that during the war, Snape worked for the Dark Side. Only Dumbledore's faith in him, saved him from Azkaban." Admitted Susan.

"And you should trust him." Bellowed Hagrid, sticking out his chest. "Great man, Dumbledore is."

The kids just exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. If you could only describe three characteristics about Hagrid, it would be that he's horrible at keeping secrets, as gentle as a kitten, and that he worships the ground Dumbledore walks on.

"Well if Snape is so good why did he just try to kill Harry?" cried Hermione. "I know a jinx when I see one Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try and kill a student! Now listen to me, all four of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicholas Flamel –"

"Aha!" shouted Harry as he jumped to his feet. "So there's someone called Nicholas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself as gathered up the tea mugs, kicking the kids out of his cabin.

"You know what this means don't you?" asked Neville as they hurried back up to the castle.

"It means, we've got some research to do," said Hermione with a triumphant smirk plastered on her face.

* * *

But as the weeks passed by their search for Nicholas Flamel went unsuccessful.

It was now mid-December, and Hogwarts was covered in several feet of snow. The lake was frozen solid and the Weasley twins had earned themselves daily detentions for bewitching snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.

Classes continued on and the teachers gave just as much homework as ever, though hardly any of the students could concentrate with all the holiday cheer going around.

The only problem was how cold it was inside the castle. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the draughty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

The 4 kids had kept themselves busy scouring through hundreds of books in the library ever since they had last talked to Hagrid, but they still hadn't had any luck at finding out anything about Nicholas Flamel.

Harry was convinced they wouldn't be able to find anything about Flamel unless they looked in the restricted section, but they needed a signed permission form from a Professor to gain access, and that wasn't likely to happen. The books in there contained powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts. He remembered his cousin Tonks telling him about how she had to be given permission by Dumbledore to gain access so that she could study the books to prepare for the Auror program she was hoping to make after she graduated. Harry knew better however, then to ask his over-protective cousin about Nicholas Flamel as she was sure to make sure Harry and his friends didn't go anywhere near the Forbidden section of the library.

In fact the kids had agreed not to ask any teacher about Flamel, to avoid word getting out to Snape about what they were doing. They had a plan for Snape, as the mini-marauders weren't prepared to let him off easy after what he had done to Harry's broom in the last Quidditch match.

It had been Susan's idea, but the three friends had readily agreed and even recruited the Weasley twins, who were only too happy to pull one over on their most hated Professor.

And so, on the last evening before they returned home for the Holidays, the 6 kids found themselves creeping around the Potion Masters private quarters after curfew.

With the help of Harry's invisibility cloak, a few disillusionment charms, the Marauders map, and the expertise of James, Sirius and Remus in the planning of the prank, they were sure it would be a success. The plan would consist of booby-trapping everything in Snape's quarters, his classroom and even his seat in the Great Hall. If everything went according to plan, Severus Snape would be a very large, singing toucan at breakfast the next morning. For his private quarters they had charmed just about every object they could find so that if it were to come into contact with his skin, it would transform into muggle candies. If that wasn't enough, they had even taken the liberty of removing everything out of his classroom and levitating it outside into the freezing cold, where everyone would be able to see it when they woke up.

Getting into his private quarters hadn't been a problem. When it became obvious that he had applied a locking charm stronger than what an _alohomora _could break, the Weasley twins simply summoned the hinges off the door, allowing them access.

Once inside they went about setting up their plan.

They decided to split up into teams with Harry and the twins booby-trapping his private quarters, as this would be the toughest part of the mission since it was so close to where he slept and would require those who were most in-depth about magic, while the other three went about levitating everything out of his classroom.

It was hard work, as none of the three first years had ever used the levitating charm on something so heavy or in such repetition, and soon found it to be quite draining on their magical core. The most frustrating part, was that it seemed like for every three items they brought out, something would find its way back inside. It was as if the castle was working against them or something.

In Snape's private quarters, the Weasley twins had made a discovery of their own.

"Uh Harry?" said Fred hesitantly.

"Do you know there's a whole row of photographs of your mother over here?" asked George, holding one up for him to see.

Harry immediately tensed up. That was not something he needed to imagine. His potions professor and his mother, he'd probably have nightmares thinking about that for the rest of his life.

The twins looked like they were ready to collapse into a fit of laughter at his reaction but Harry quickly silenced them and vanished the picture in George's hand.

"Not one word, you hear me," whispered the little boy threateningly. "This never leaves this room."

Fred and George only just barely managed to nod, both of them clutching their stomachs as they laughed silently.

Harry just went back to charming Snape's desk as he grumbled about the misfortune of life.

He had just about charmed every object within it and on top of it when he noticed a small notepad that was practically pulsing with magic.

He thought about trying to break into it, as he knew whatever it was, was quite important to the former death eater, but at that very moment, they heard a crash from the other room. Acting on reflex he stuffed the notepad into his pocket and waited to see the reaction of the sound.

They didn't dare move a muscle until they heard footsteps coming from the Potion Masters bedroom chamber, at which point they quickly scampered out of the room, dashing to warn their friends before any of them could be caught.

Neville and Hermione were both inside, and they too made a run for it, but Susan was not in the classroom.

Deciding to split up so that not all of them were caught, Neville and Hermione went together up the closest flight of stairs, while the Twins made a mad sprint down the hallway, leaving Harry to use the Marauders Map and try to locate Susan.

According to the map, she wasn't very far from him and walking back in his direction. Stuffing the piece of parchment back into his pocket, he quickly reattached the door back onto its hinges before running as fast as he could towards his best friend to get out of the danger zone. As he skidded around the corner, practically knocking Susan over, he could hear the screams coming from the Dungeons, and the two high tailed it out of there as fast as they could.

* * *

It ended up that the Weasley twins took shelter hiding in the Kitchens, while Hermione and Neville ended up on the forbidden 3rd floor corridor. They were well aware that they were now deep in out of bounds territory, so when Peeves turned up and threatened to give up their location, the two kids had no other choice but to duck into the room that housed Fluffy to hide away from Peeves and the caretaker Argus Filch. Seeing the beast for the first time, the two first years were absolutely certain that there was nothing 'fluffy' about him.

Although they were the ones who ended up in the most dangerous situation, it was Harry and Susan who were the only two kids that were caught by a Professor.

* * *

"I think we're safe now," panted Harry as he pulled Susan into an empty classroom on the 4th floor for them to catch their breath.

The two were so exhausted from the adrenaline rush that it was a few minutes before they noticed anything about the room they had hidden in.

At first glance it looked just like a regular disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an upturned waste-paper basket – but propped against the wall facing them was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. _

The panic fading now that there was no sound of Snape or Filch, Susan moved closer to the mirror to examine it.

Harry couldn't see her reflection, or anything else appear in the mirror, but apparently Susan had because her eyes went wide and she clapped her hands to her mouth in shock.

"Harry you have to see this!" she screeched, turning to her friend who was staring at her dumbly.

"See what Susan, I can't see anything," admitted Harry.

"What do you mean you can't see anything, they're right there" she exclaimed pointing to the mirror.

Harry approached his shaking and now crying friend to pull her into an embrace burying her head into his shoulder. Susan was now facing the door, while Harry was facing mirror.

He felt his heart start to beat faster than it had when he was riding his jinxed broom, as the mirror turned a brilliant white before filling with numerous figures that hadn't been there before.

He could see what looked like an older version of himself judging by the lightning bolt shaped scar sketched on his forehead and the piercing green eyes. The older mirror version of him looked like he had just been through an immense battle of some sort. His robes were torn and bloodied, and there was a dead man in dark black robes with hollow red eyes and a snake-like nose lying at his feet. He noticed that his family were all approaching his mirror self with large smiles on their face, although each appeared to have an injury of some sort.

He was broken from his musings again when Susan let out a shrilling scream. Turning around to see what had scared the young witch; he was confronted with the sight of the smiling Headmaster.

"We – we didn't see you, Sir." Sputtered Harry.

"Strange how short-sighted being invisible can make you," said Dumbledore, smiling down at the students in front of him while he twirled the fabric of the discarded Invisibility cloak around his wand.

Neither Harry nor Susan said anything. They could only imagine how much trouble they were going to be in.

"So, I see that you two, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised." Said the Headmaster as he closed the door quietly behind him and walked over to the still forms of Susan and Harry.

"I expect you've realised by now what it does?" said the Headmaster in a jovial tone of voice as he went to sit down on top of one of the desks at the side of the room.

"It – well – it shows my parents –" said Susan in a quiet voice.

"And it showed you Harry, your defeat of Voldemort, am I correct?"

"How did you know -?"

"Alas, that is a secret I can't tell you," said Dumbledore gently. "All I can say is that since the mirror is mine, I have a certain connection with it."

The two kids nodded at the old wizard, seeming to accept this explanation.

"Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?"

The two kids shook their heads.

"Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself as exactly as he is. Does that help?"

Harry thought. Then he spoke slowly, "It shows us what we want… whatever we want…"

"Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You Ms. Bones, who had never known your parents, see them standing proudly behind you, while Harry sees himself free from the burden of the Dark Lord. This mirror gives us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. For that reason I ask you not to return for this mirror. It will be moved to a new home tomorrow, and I ask you not to go looking for it. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared, though I hope it doesn't come to that."

He waited for the two kids to nod their agreement before he continued. "One would do well to remember that it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

The two kids once again nodded their heads, sparing one last look back into the mirror, before turning back to face the still smiling Headmaster.

"Why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?"

"You're… You're not going to punish us?" croaked Harry in disbelief.

Dumbledore just chuckled. "Why ever should I? You've done nothing wrong."

"But… we're out past curfew," explained Susan, though why she was giving the Headmaster reason to punish them she did not know.

"Ah yes, I never was quite fond of those curfew's while I was a student myself. Used to make a game out of it to see how many prefects I could sneak past on their nightly patrols."

Harry's jaw was hanging open he was so surprised at this revelation, as Dumbledore just chuckled and handed them back the Invisibility cloak and wished them goodnight.

Not wanting to wait any longer, the two kids pulled the cloak over them and hurried back to Gryffindor Tower, where they met up with Hermione, Neville and the Weasley twins who were waiting for them on the couches by the fireplace.

"What happened to you two?" asked Neville. "Did Snape catch you?"

"No." replied Harry "But we had an interesting conversation with Professor Dumbledore…" before he went on to explain everything he and Susan had been told by the old man, including what they had seen in the mirror.

The four sat there dumbstruck as they explained, each caught up on the thought that Albus Dumbledore had once been just another rule breaker and the prospect of what they would see in the Mirror of Erised.

Deciding to get some rest before they had to board the express back to Kings Cross station the next morning, Harry headed off to bed, making sure to lock the stolen notepad away in the bottom of his trunk.

* * *

That Christmas was probably the most enjoyable one in any of the kid's lives as they enjoyed each other's company after being apart for so long.

They spent days exchanging various stories, ranging from Hogwarts lessons, to Auror missions, to the upkeep of running a dental practice, and the ever-embarrassing baby stories.

They spent their time playing outside in the snow, having pick-up games of Quidditch, and practicing their spell work in the duelling room. The parents were amused to see that whenever the kids approached a new subject they were all very competitive to beat Harry and be the first one to accomplish the task. Harry of course found this good fun, and wasn't about to let them win easily.

The younger kids thoroughly enjoyed watching their older brothers and sisters practice, and spent many hours pleading with them to teach them some magic and eagerly explaining any accidental magic they had performed to date. The older children were thoroughly amused to see the 4 kids together as they drew similarities to the older kids, much like they did to the parents.

Sarah was becoming another Hermione, as both girls were practically identical to Lily in behaviour. Both were like the mother figure in their group, each having a very strong cautious and protective nature around them and a respect for the establishment, but all hell went to the winds whenever one of their friends was in trouble as both girls were prepared to break any rule to help them.

Clarissa was a lot like Susan in her love for mischief. It seemed that Sirius had taken a particular interest in her upbringing as she took pride in pulling off numerous small pranks on the family while everyone was home for the holidays. She was becoming quite the vivacious little redhead and James often joked that she would turn quite a few heads when she was older.

Joshua and Mathew were a bit of an enigma. They were both perfectly happy to stay out of the spotlight, but at the same time they loved to live life on the edge. It was common consensus amongst the group that they would prove to be quite a handful for whichever house got them once they made it to Hogwarts. They seemed to have perfected the art of not drawing too much attention to themselves while still constantly getting up to no good.

Even after only being home for a week, it was plainly evident to the 4 mini-marauders to see that their younger brothers and sisters had grown closer while they were away at Hogwarts.

Perhaps more interesting however, was how close the parents had grown together. The mothers were extremely tight, enjoying several sessions of afternoon tea together, while the men enjoyed a few nights out of drinking.

One of the most important discussions that took place amongst the parents was between Sirius, James and Remus. The three friends and business partner were discussing how difficult it is to see the full action of a good Quidditch game from the stands in the crowd, and the possibility of expanding their idea of magical communication mirrors to mimic something along the lines of a muggle TV. They knew it would be a big project, but if the end-result turned out anything like their imagined prototype it would be a spectacular improvement for sporting events, as Wizarding games tended not to be very spectator oriented. After much discussion they agreed they should invest into such a project and resigned to include Lily as one of the partners in the project since she was the only one who understood how a TV broadcast worked.

* * *

For Christmas everyone in the family received a small mountain of gifts.

Lily and Alice each received several books from the children and other adults, as well as jewellery from their husbands.

Emma and Dan were delighted to learn that they could use magical artefacts and were overwhelmed with the gifts the family had given them. The most notable of which was a large clock which held a picture of each of the family members on it and let the Grangers know if they were in class, at work, the Manor, up-to-no-good, the library, the Gryffindor Common Room, the hospital, or mortal peril.

Remus was taken aback to see the large pile of books he had gotten from the kids, but couldn't even begin to describe how grateful he was for the cauldron full of Wolfsbane potion he received from Lily. It still touched him that the family could be so accepting of his condition. It was something he would be forever grateful for, as a part of him still felt like he was less of a human because of his sickness. Only a small part though, as the family was slowly stamping that out of him.

Frank, Sirius and James all received Nimbus 2000's which prompted the adults to immediately put aside the numerous bottles of fire-whiskey they had received and challenge Harry to a race, although Sirius thought it would be a better idea if they included first one to finish a bottle as part of the deal.

Harry however was too busy admiring his gifts to take them up on such a challenge.

Like the other kids, he had received several spell books from the adults, pranking supplies from his uncles, a pocket size foe glass from Professor Dumbledore & McGonagall, a handmade wooden flute from Hagrid, and an ornate chess set from the Grangers.

The one thing Harry got however that none of the other mini-marauders received was a large box of goods from the Weasley family.

Inside there was a crimson and gold wool jumper with a large yellow 'H' on the front. Underneath the sweater there were two boxes, the first had a large homemade cake in it, and the second had several chocolate frog cards in it.

There was also a short note inside that let him know it was from Ron Weasley and that he hoped they could become closer friends after Christmas break. Harry was a little confused as to why Ron had given all this too him, but was grateful nonetheless. They'd started off on shaky footing, but if he had gone to the trouble to send him such a gift, the least he could do was express his gratitude.

His musings didn't last long however, as he flipped through the numerous chocolate frog cards. He recognized one for Amelia Bones, Minister Fudge, and even Dumbledore.

He nearly dropped the box when he saw that last one. Right there in front of him, at the bottom of the description was the name Nicholas Flamel.

Harry just sat there like an idiot; gaping at the card he held in his hand much to the confusion of everyone else in the room.

When Hermione asked him what was wrong all he could do was hand her the card. She too was alarmed to finally find a clue regarding the identity of Nicholas Flamel, and on the back of a chocolate frog card, no less.

It seemed that this had drawn the attention of the parents however, who were now demanding to see the card that had caused such a reaction. Immediately they knew something was up, and that the kids were in on some crazy adventure that they were going to find out about it.

The kids had no choice but to tell the parents about their suspicions, and needless to say they were not happy with what they learned. Apparently Dumbledore had thought it was a good idea to hide the only object he believed Lord Voldemort would go after in a school full of children. They were definitely going to have a talk with the old man once school started back up again but in the meantime all they could do was urge the children not to go near that forbidden corridor.

The kids weren't so convinced however, they knew their parents were just being over-protective and that protectiveness was preventing them from seeing the bigger picture. If Snape was going to steal whatever Fluffy was guarding, they had to go down to stop him before he gave the object to his master. They had no choice in the matter, Harry was the only one who could do it. They had to act.

For that reason, as soon as the 4 kids returned to Hogwarts, Hermione immediately sprinted towards the library to take out the book she now knew would contain an explanation on Nicholas Flamel and his work on Alchemy.

After searching the many rows of the library she came back to the table in the corner, to place the large tomb in her hands in front of her friends for them to read, complaining about the fact that she must have missed the reference when she last read through the book for a little bit of light reading the moth before.

Neville and Susan did their best to hide their chuckles at that statement, while Hermione flipped through the pages to get to the part on Flamel.

"Look its right here!" whispered Hermione furiously. "Nicholas Flamel – it says he's one of the makers of the first Philosopher's Stone!"

"What's a philosopher stone?" asked Neville and Harry in unison, prompting Hermione to roll her eyes at them.

"Honestly don't you two read?"

"Hermione why would we have to read anything when we can just go to you for anything in that department?" teased Susan, causing Harry's cheeks turn slightly pink, Neville to choke on his laughter, and Hermione to glare at her best friend.

Susan just burst out laughing at getting such a reaction out of them before the others quickly hushed her so that Madame Pince wouldn't come and kick them out for disturbing the peace.

"Susan's terrible sense of humour aside, what's so special about a Philosopher Stone?" questioned Harry.

Hermione just closed the book up and smiled back at him. "It's supposed to be able to transform any metal into pure gold as well as producing the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal."

Neville, Susan and Harry paled at this revelation at the thought of what this stone could do in Voldemort's hands.

They had no choice. Even if it meant disregarding their parents, the 4 kids couldn't allow Snape to get the stone, if he did it could be the end of the world.

With that horrible thought the kids furthered their dedication to their advanced studies, and monitoring Snape's movements on the Marauders map, anything to help prevent the Potions Master from getting the stone.


	22. Suspicions & Not so Friendly Wagers

As the four first years returned to the Gryffindor Common Room that night, Harry decided to do something that he hadn't done yet this year: take Ron Weasley up on his offering of a match of chess.

He had played a few times over the holidays and when he was younger, though he wasn't very good. In truth he really wasn't a big fan of the game at all and was always beaten by Neville or Susan whenever he played with them.

This wasn't about winning though. This was about getting to know the first year that had sent him the gift basket for Christmas. He was very grateful for it, as not only did he enjoy the cake and sweater his family had given him, but the chocolate cards allowed them to solve the mystery surrounding Nicholas Flamel. Whether Ron knew it or not his Christmas gift had been a huge help for him, and he figured that he owed the boy as much as to play a game of chess with him in return.

In truth he really hadn't spent any time in the company of Ron Weasley during the first term.

He knew that his friends didn't think very highly of him, and to be honest neither did he, but he was willing to give him a chance.

While he might agree with Hermione's view that he only cares about himself and only sent him the basket to get closer to him and his fame, he chose to think that the boy was just trying to make amends for his behaviour.

In truth Ron had always been a bit of a thorn in his side. He was a jerk to his friends, Hermione especially, and he had long since come to terms with the fact that he was someone he didn't particularly want to associate with.

Ron had a few very serious emotional problems. His deep seeded inferiority complex caused him to be quite jealous of anyone who did something better than him, while his laziness ensured that he never put in the effort needed to improve himself. He was hot-headed at times, and seemed to take pride in putting others down to make himself look good. In essence he was la bully, but for some reason he thought he could change that.

His tendency to act as an obnoxious git aside, Ron could in fact be quite pleasant when he wanted to be.

He was the only boy in his dormitory that shared his love for Quidditch, his childhood stories were amazing, his brothers were hilarious and his mother's cooking was the best he'd ever tasted.

As a result, Harry found himself in a position where he was willing to give Ron a chance. If he could show that he actually had moved on or was at least willing to change his behaviour, then he figured he could be a pretty good friend.

* * *

Ron was amazed his plan to send Harry a gift basket had worked out so well. The boy had asked him to play a game of Wizards chess the first night back, and although he had thoroughly thrashed him in all four games, the two shared quite the Quidditch conversation if he could say so himself.

Harry seemed to be of the opinion that Puddlemore was a superior team to the Canons but he figured he could make him see reason eventually.

Harry had even invited him to sit down and eat breakfast with his friends and he had managed to control his eating habits in front of them.

Dean and Seamus were great friends but they weren't Harry Potter, so he didn't hesitate to accept.

He got the impression that none of the other three particularly liked him, but were willing to put up with him for Harry's sake. That didn't bother him though, he didn't particularly care for them either, after all Neville had socked him in the face last term and Granger was just an annoying bookworm. The only respectable one out of them was Susan though even she complained about his eating habits.

As far as he was concerned, all he had to do was show Harry how loyal he really could be and then he'd be in. Then he'd have all the fame he dreamed of and the money to boot too.

* * *

When Harry climbed into his four-poster bed that evening, he was surprised to see a note protruding from underneath his blankets.

Apparently Neville had written requesting a private meeting with him in his trunk.

Harry knew this could only mean one thing. Neville only ever did this if he was worried about something and wanted to speak to Harry privately to try and make him see reason.

Sighing to himself, Harry clambered out of bed and into the apartment of Neville's multi compartment trunk.

Neville was sitting at the small kitchen table off to the side of the room, and as soon as he saw Harry he beckoned for him to join him.

Harry did so, knowing that before he even got the chance to ask, Neville would explain himself.

"Harry why were you hanging out with Ron earlier today?" asked Neville, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly as he stared down at his hands. "I don't know how to put this nicely but he's a jerk, plain and simple. I'm not trying to be prejudiced or anything but he's really not a good influence."

He knew his friend was only looking out for his best interests, Neville was far too comfortable with their relationship to think that one evening of chess would replace him as his best mate, but nevertheless he was sincerely worried.

Scratching the back of his neck with his right hand, Harry tried to explain himself. "I don't know a part of me just felt like it was the right thing to do you know? Ron might not have the greatest character but he has his qualities, and I feel like I could be that influence to bring them out in him."

"You mean you think you could change him?" said Neville, frowning.

"Uh. Yea… Maybe," said Harry, immediately doubting himself.

Neville just sat there staring at him, before he started chuckling, a huge grin on his face as he shook his head.

"If you can get Ron Weasley to act like a civilized human being by the end of the term, I'll eat my hat," said the round-faced boy, causing Harry to raise his eyebrow in acknowledgment of the challenge.

"Oh and what do I have to do if you win?" said Harry.

Neville looked at him for a little while as if he was thinking of the best possible punishment. In the end he settled on having Harry profess his undying love for their Head of House in front of the whole Great Hall.

"What no way! I have to humiliate myself in front of the whole school and all you have to do is eat a mangy old hat!"

Neville just grinned. "Well fine what do you suggest?"

"How about if I win you have to take Susan out on a date. If she says no, then you can eat your hat. Deal?"

"If I accept and you lose, then you have to ask McGonagall to dance at the closing feat," said Neville, reaching out with his right hand to acknowledge the challenge.

Harry sat there staring at it for quite some time. He didn't know if he could truly change Ron's attitude, and he didn't fancy having to dance with McGonagall in front of the whole school if he failed. On the other hand though, it might finally give Neville the nudge he needs to do something about his crush on Susan.

Slamming his fist down on the table, Harry stood up and shook Neville's hand, causing a triumphant smirk to grow on the boy's face.

"To Ron Weasley," he saluted. "May your behaviour hereby improve to a level where the rest of Gryffindor no longer thinks of you as a barn animal."

Harry just rolled his eyes and walked out of the trunk, leaving Neville to laugh at what he surely presumed would be his inevitable victory.

_I'm going to need to start working on this first thing tomorrow,_ thought Harry. _Getting the others to think of Ron as a civilized human being is definitely not going to be easy, but I still think it's doable. There's a bit of good in everyone, right?_

* * *

As time passed though, the other three didn't warm up to him. Hermione and Neville both got the impression that if Ron had his way he wouldn't want to be friends with any of them except for Harry, as that was the only time he seemed to be on his best behaviour.

Susan didn't seem to mind him so much as he wasn't particularly rude to her like he was to Hermione or Neville and in truth found the whole thing quite hilarious whenever Ron sucked up to Harry.

When Hermione and Neville voiced their concerns to their friend however, Harry wasn't too happy to hear about it, and even defended Ron saying that he might be a little friendlier with them if they actually made an effort to do the same.

After all to Ron's credit he had apologized for his behaviour last term and made a conceded effort to change. He no longer openly insulted them and even tried not to argue with them, though the only one he really listened to was Harry.

Both Hermione and Neville were slightly miffed at the thought of being civil towards the redhead as truth be told he had been just as much of a thorn in their side as Malfoy had been last term, if not more.

But with Harry including him in their group more and more, it seemed like they didn't have a choice in the matter. They could only try to get along with him, though they were positive they would never become friends with him.

Ron was still a jealous git who bullied other people to make up for his own inadequacies and they were sure he was only hanging out with them because he wanted to get closer to Harry.

After all it showed what type of person he really was when he was so quick to dump Dean and Seamus in favour of Harry. They didn't want to be friends with anyone that would just leave them at the drop of a hat without a second thought as soon as it benefitted them.

No they might have to be civil towards Ron Weasley but they would never be friends with him.

* * *

The bet aside, Harry had bigger things to worry about than the behaviour of Ron Weasley.

By the time February rolled around, Harry was even more confused about Snape's behaviour.

His mother had sat him and his best friends down and explained her past with Snape, his betrayal, and what he said after the Quidditch game.

For the life of him he couldn't understand the man. One moment he'd hate him and then the next it was as if he was trying to buy favour with him.

Just last week for example he and Neville had overslept for their morning Potions class and were frantically trying to put on their uniforms while they ran out the door, Hermione scolding them to hurry up the whole way. They had taken a secret passage to save time, and shown up only six minutes late with uniforms that were practically hanging off of them still and yet Snape hadn't given them detention. He hadn't even taken house points off or tried to sabotage their potion that lesson either.

He was sure it was because he suspected him. He probably knew that they thought he was after the stone, or that he had been the one to steal his notebook, and now he was trying to be civil to them as to lull them into a false sense of confidence.

Harry wasn't going to let that happen.

He'd yet to show anyone the notebook (mainly because he was too scared it was just another thing filled with pictures of his mum) nor had he been successful in opening it – though not for a lack of trying.

Whatever charms Snape had put on that thing meant that he couldn't even open it with wandless magic. If that wasn't bad enough he had noticed that whenever it came into contact with his skin, it turned it blue and it was very difficult to get it to go back to normal.

Although it frustrated him immensely, he was starting to become fascinated with the old thing. He even studied the charms he thought were placed on it so that he could one day make his own.

He had yet to detect any dark magic on it, and his curiosity was getting the better of him.

Whatever was in that thing was clearly important to Snape as he had become much angrier ever since he had noticed it was missing.

He had been handing out detentions and docking house points so liberally, that Dumbledore had to call him into a conference to get him to stop.

He was sure that Snape though of either him or the Weasley twins as the most likely culprit, and while he had no problem forcing them to scrub cauldrons with their tongues, he seemed to be fighting an inner battle every time he attempted to punish him.

As a result he had taken to avoiding the Potions Master as much as possible and redoubled his efforts to monitor his movements on the Marauders Map. The four had set up a system so that each night would either be the girls or the boys turn to stand guard, with the other one of them sleeping until it was their shift. It was quite tiring and seemed quite tedious as Snape seemed to spend all his time either tailing Professor Quirrell or moping around in his dungeon. Thankfully they still had History of Magic to sleep through so they still managed to find time for a quick nap during the day.

* * *

Malfoy was growing impatient.

Getting back at Potter was much harder than he had originally thought it would be. Just about every Professor thought the sun shined out of his ass.

Originally his godfathers constant belittling of the boy in Potions appeased his temper, but it was becoming quite clear that that wasn't enough to break him.

No, it was going to take something bigger, something that would not only humiliate him, but would turn others against him. Something that would get him in so much trouble he'd be too scared to show his face in public.

As normal he had written home to his father for advice and was delighted to hear that he might have just the thing, only the preparations required meant that it wouldn't be ready to enact until next year.

Forced to find an alternative, Draco had taken to examining the boy daily routine as best he could and even dropping little hints to certain Professors about when he thought he was breaking the rules.

It might not be much, but he was sure that if he kept at it, the boy was sure to stumble and when he did, he'd be there for the strike.

* * *

"You don't think the kids will go and put themselves in danger do you?" said Alice as she poured a spoon of sugar into her tea. She was currently sitting in Amelia's office with Frank, Sirius, James and Lily as Dan and Emma were at home looking after the youngest children and Remus was away for the full moon.

No one was quick to answer, as they knew that despite their hopefulness it was a very good chance that the kids would disrespect their wishes and do what they felt was right. It was both an admiral quality and a major pain as a parent.

"Whatever happens I'm sure they'll make us proud," offered Amelia, though even she didn't seem very happy with the words that came out of her mouth.

"I don't know how much more of proud I can take," grumbled Lily. "I mean it's great and all that they're doing so well but they're still children. This burden shouldn't be put on them. Why did the responsibility of saving the world have to fall on my son's shoulders, couldn't it have been a properly trained Auror or something."

"You can't think of it like that," said James, trying to console his upset wife. "We just have to stay positive and do everything we can to help and prepare him."

Behind him Sirius and Frank were both nodding their heads.

"He's right you know," said Frank. "Harry might have been chosen by this crazy solo mission against the Dark Lord, but it's up to us to take out his army of Death Eaters to give him that chance. No one's going to be leaving him out to dry. We'll all be there for him."

Lily smiled at the older man, and Alice rubbed his arm affectionately for those kind words. Even Amelia gave him a small smile.

"I just wish we could do a bit more," sighed Sirius. "I mean it's been ten years since the war ended, and apart from my dear cousin Bella, her husband, his brother, Crouch's son, Avery, and Pettigrew, we haven't locked up a single Death Eater in that span. We had nearly twenty of them in Ministry holding cells for Merlin sakes and Fudge let them all go on the Imperius claim."

The others couldn't help but agree. As much of an influence they had on the Wizengamot they still hadn't been able to rally the support needed to get Fudge replaced. The man was a complete moron but he had the support of the rich purebloods and it was enough to keep him in power.

With the cuts he had enforced to the DMLE he had put the Ministry at risk should Voldemort ever rise up again, as the current system didn't have enough trained Aurors to stand against such a threat.

It had been a real loss when Alastor Moody had retired. Rufus Scrimgeour was pretty decent in his new role of Head Auror but he just couldn't fill the shoes that were left before him, not that anyone expected him too.

"It's not all bad though," said James, clearly trying to cheer them up and get their thoughts off Pettigrew. "I heard Arthur Weasley's been able to pull enough support to introduce a few more muggle protection acts. If anything it'll be enough to put the remaining death eaters on their toes."

"Just promise me Amelia that if we ever get the opportunity to raid Malfoy's home you bring me along," pleaded Frank, causing Sirius to laugh and thump the man on the back before offering his services as well."

"You know I can't make any promises," said Amelia, smiling at Frank and wagging her finger at Sirius, causing the man to pout and James to laugh at him. "Besides I would have thought you'd be more worried about the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff? One more win and they're in the finals…"

Sirius just snorted, while James and Frank sat up proudly on either side of him. "Psh like Hufflepuff could ever give Gryffindor a run for their money. I'm telling you that game will be over before it starts."

"Oh really," challenged the lone ex-puff. "Care to put your money where your mouth is?"

Sirius just flashed her a cheeky smile.

"If Gryffindor wins you have to assign Frank, James and I onto the Malfoy raid if there is one. If Hufflepuff wins you can name anything you want and its yours, considering the odd that that happens are less than Hermione failing her end of year exams.

Lily just snorted into her tea, as James and Frank began howling with laughter. Through it all though Amelia just sat there staring at Sirius with a glint in her eye.

"Anything?"

"Anything," said Sirius firmly, extending his hand to shake on it.

Amelia just smiled. "Two things Black. One, you would do well to never forget the tenacity of a puff, and two, I seemed to remember you failing first year Herbology while you were at Hogwarts…"

"Yea but you can't compare me to Hermione," defended Sirius, swatting away Lily's hand as she tried to poke fun of him. "Besides why would I want to learn about plants anyways?"

"Oh I don't know," said Amelia, bring her teacup up to her lips to take another sip. "Perhaps it might have helped you keep your job as a field operative in the Auror force."

This of course brought huge grins to Lily's and the Longbottoms faces, as it was a running joke amongst them to make fun of the marauders career choice of opening up a joke shop, even if it was quite successful.

However, the two never got the chance to defend their honour as their friends collapsed into a fit of laughter, not even stopping to hear anything they had to say in favour of themselves. It didn't bother them though, they had been the brunt of many a joke in their lifetime, and they were sure that they'd be the ones laughing once Hufflepuff and Gryffindor faced off against each other that weekend.

Amelia was going to regret the day she ever made such a foolish bet as to go against the house of lions.

* * *

But while the Marauders may be feeling absolutely confident about the game against Hufflepuff, Harry was feeling anything but.

Wood had somehow managed to injure himself in Potions class and Madame Pomphrey was forcing him to sit out from any physical activity until the hives cleared up.

Without their captain and star keeper, they had been forced to take on a burly 6th year by the name of Cody McClaggen, who believed that because he was the oldest he should be the replacement captain instead of Angelina.

Needless to say the team wasn't very happy to have him, as he was rather full of himself and spent more time telling them how to play than actually focusing on doing his job.

It only got worse when they found out that Snape was refereeing the match, as Harry was sure that he would take pleasure in humiliating them as much of possible in front of the entire school.

The team's anxiety had never been worse than it was before the start of the game, as no-one really knew what to say in the dressing room, other than the fact that they should go out there and get a win for Oliver.

Harry was still in the process of putting on his dragon hide seeker gloves when Angelina pulled him aside for a quick chat while the rest of the team walked out onto the pitch.

"Don't want to pressure you Harry, but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favour Hufflepuff too much or we're sure to lose with McClaggen in goal."

Harry could only nod, sweat already beginning to form on his forehead as he felt the pre-game nerves come back and hit him at full force.

He could hear the rest of the team talking down the tunnel ahead of him, and he had to hurry to catch up.

"Would you look at that George! The whole school's out there!" called Fred as he pushed open the door to walk out onto the pitch. Harry felt his stomach fall. That was just what he needed right now, more people to see him fall off his broom or they lose to Hufflepuff.

"Blimey, even Dumbledore's come to watch!" gaped George, as he too walked out onto the pitch.

Just like that Harry's heart did a somersault.

"Dumbledore?" he said, dashing to the door to make sure. Fred was right. There was no mistaking that silver beard.

Harry could have laughed out loud with relief. He was safe. There was simply no way that Snape would dare to try and hurt him if Dumbledore was watching, he was the one person that held control over the man.

Feeling an immense relief wash over him, Harry walked out onto the field to join his teammates before taking to the skies, confident that Snape wouldn't be able to jinx his broom or favour Hufflepuff too much as to decide the game.

It was probably a good thing the whole school had come down to watch the game too, as Harry would later consider it one of the best games he would ever play.

Snape had all of 2 minutes to favour the Hufflepuffs before Harry pulled into a spectacular dive, which drew cheers from the crowd.

Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches – next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

His family and friends were all jumping up and down on their seats hugging each other and cheering frantically.

Harry jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. He couldn't believe it. The game was over – he'd done it. Gryffindor had won 150-40 and the game wasn't even 3 minutes old.

As Gryffindors came spilling onto the pitch, he saw Snape land nearby, white faced and tight lipped.

Harry didn't have time to think about that though, as he was soon hoisted onto the shoulders of his housemates and paraded around the pitch.

* * *

Harry left the changing room alone some time later, to take his Nimbus 2000 back to the broom shed. He couldn't ever remember feeling happier. He'd really done something to be proud of now – no one could say he was just a famous name anymore.

He couldn't help but notice the hooded figure walking swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible towards the forbidden forest. Harry's victory faded from his mind as he watched. He recognized the figure's prowling walk. Snape, sneaking into the forest while everyone else was at dinner – what was going on?

Harry jumped on his Nimbus 2000 and took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw Snape enter the forest at a run. He followed.

The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Snape had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices.

Below in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone. Quirrell was there, too. Harry couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Harry strained to catch what they were saying.

"… d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus…"

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone, after all."

Harry leant forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Severus, I – "

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step towards him.

"I-I don't know what you – "

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

"B-but I d-d-don't –"

"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Harry could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified. Harry felt sorry for the man, he felt like he should help him, but he knew he couldn't, if anything the only thing he could do was report this to Dumbledore, but then again the old wizard seemed to know everything that went on in the castle, surely he was well aware of Snape's behaviour. Sighing to himself he flew back to put his broom away before hurrying back up to the castle.

At least he could tell his friends.

* * *

"Harry, where have you been?" chided Susan. "You missed the family leaving and everything?"

"Forget about that! We won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back, as Hermione and Susan looked at him with a level of despise. Neither witch got along great with their new friend. In fact if they were to admit it, they didn't even like him, they only put up with him because Harry approved of him. "Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party to celebrate! Gryffindor hasn't been in first place in the house standings for over 5 years and now we've got a 50 point lead!"

"Right, lead the way," said Harry breathlessly, looking over his shoulder to exchange a look with Neville. He was hoping to escape for a private conversation with his three best friends as soon as possible. Ron was nice and all, but this wasn't something he was privy too.

It was just a testament to their bond that Neville was able to understand that look at face value and know what Harry was thinking, as only thirty minutes into the party he managed to pull Harry into a secluded corner where Hermione and Susan were waiting for a private chat.

They weren't too happy to hear what he had overheard, and were already working themselves into a state of panic.

Only Hermione kept her head and tried to think logically of the situation, but even her objection of, "there's got to be other enchantments guarding the stone, other than Fluffy," was shot down.

"Yea but if Quirrell is the only thing left protecting it from Snape though, the stone will be gone by next Tuesday," said Neville.

Harry couldn't do anything other than nod his head in agreement, as the twins came up from behind and hoisted him onto their shoulders and back into the center of the cheering crowd.

They couldn't wait much longer, they were going to have to do something to take out Snape and soon.

* * *

Quirrel, however, must have been braver than they'd thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, the four kids would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and the four friends had even started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

It wasn't much but they hoped it gave him whatever little support he needed to stand up to Snape.

* * *

**Well there it is. Leave me a review and let me know what you think of the story so far. Thanks for reading. **


	23. The Norwegian Ridgeback

Unfortunately as time passed, their suspicions remained just that. They didn't know if Snape had discovered how to get pass Fluffy yet, nor did they know what the other protections were guarding the stone.

They knew that their only chance to uncover such answers was through their friend Hagrid but he seemed to have made it his personal mission to avoid them as much as possible so as to not reveal any secrets he shouldn't.

It was really irritating as it seemed to them as if no-one was taking the threat to the Stone seriously, nor was anyone willing to help them.

If that wasn't bad enough, they had to worry about upcoming examinations as well, and Hermione absolutely refused to let their marks take a back seat to their mission.

It might have only been the end of March, but she had drawn up a syllabus and everything for them to go over. If she could have her way they'd probably be spending over five hours a day reviewing in the library, but thankfully the other three were able to persuade her down to two.

She had even tried to convince Ron to join them but the boy was set on pushing off his studies to play chess, claiming that exams were still ages away. It infuriated her even more when he managed to corrupt one of the other three into getting them to join him, usually Harry or Susan.

It was pointless trying to convince either Hermione or Ron on the matter. Both were set on their approach to course work and the arguments that frequently arose between the two first years had become legendary in the Gryffindor Common Room.

Most people simply made the wise decision of steering clear of any confrontation between the two, though there were a few people who attempted to intervene.

Percy for example, would never punish his own brother though he did take every opportunity he got to chide him about his lack of discipline, and the ill effect it will have on his future career opportunities.

Fred and George on the other hand, were more willing to act out against their youngest brother and took frequent pleasure in embarrassing him through simple pranks such as turning his robes different colours or making him speak like an animal for a day or two. The worst was when they had managed to replace the Gryffindor crest on his chest into a badge that proudly declared his love for Hermione Granger. Ron had made a huge scene about the whole thing, and Hermione was so mad at him for embarrassing her she swore she'd never talk to that pig ever again in her life.

That was when Harry knew there truly wasn't any hope for Ron. He had been unnecessarily forgiving with the red-headed boy in the hope that his attitude would eventually come around, but seeing him hurt his best friend like that was the eye-opener he needed to realize that that wasn't going to happen. Besides if asking McGonagall to dance in front of the Great Hall was what it took to stick up for his true friends then he'd gladly do it. In fact if he as being honest to himself he felt rather stupid for taking the bet so seriously in the first place. He had let the possibility of winning keep him from appreciating what truly mattered, his friends.

He didn't know what came over him to cause him to try and stick up for Ron. There was just something about that care package they sent him that made him want to get closer to the boy.

Cursing his stupidity Harry swore to himself he'd make it up to his friends.

* * *

Ron was walking aimlessly through the castle that afternoon. He had briefly thought about going to the library to apologize to Harry and his friends for his behaviour, but his pride wouldn't let him admit that he had done anything wrong. If anything he should be mad at his brothers. How they could possibly assume he'd fall for someone as ugly as Hermione was beyond him, but all he knew was that it was their bloody fault he was in this mess. Now who was he going to get to help him with his homework?

It made him extremely frustrated to think of the whole thing. He had been so close to galvanizing a friendship with Harry and then his brothers had to go and ruin the whole thing. It was a bloody disaster and he couldn't think of anything he could do to rectify the situation.

He was so lost in his thoughts that as he turned a corner he didn't even see Hagrid and consequently walked right into him, knocking himself back onto his bottom.

"Woa all right there little fella? Sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean to walk into you, must not have seen you is all," said the friendly half giant as he gave the boy a hand up.

"Ugh no problem Hagrid" said Ron, rubbing his back-side.

"Say you're Charlie's little brother aren't you? Recognize that hair from anywhere!"

"Uh yea I am. Most people associate me with Fred and George though."

"Well their fine blokes but Charlie was always my favourite. Had him over all the time to show him any new critter I found in the forest…" said Hagrid, hesitating mid speech as if he was suddenly realizing something.

"Say you can keep a secret right?" said the man looking down at Ron sceptically.

Ron didn't answer immediately before he slowly nodded his head, his eyes never leaving Hagrid's. This seemed to appease Hagrid as he happily leant in and whispered, "Between you and me, you wouldn't happen to be interested in seeing a baby dragon would yea?"

Ron's eyes went wide as he began to moan about dragons and other exciting things.

Hagrid smiled proudly and he leant back and stuck his chest out. "Yup, got meself an egg just a few weeks back. Should be close to hatching soon. Been reading up on how to raise them and all," said the man, showing Ron the book he was carrying.

Ron could only stare in amazement as he nodded at Hagrid and told him that he'd come down to see it next weekend.

Hagrid seemed to be happy with this, and bid him goodbye, whistling a gruff, happy tune as Ron stood there like an idiot, still trying to recover from what he had just learned.

He was in such a state of bewilderment that he didn't even notice the smiling figure that stood, hidden in the shadows of the hallway, having heard the entire conversation.

* * *

Neville was happy to see much less of Ron during the next couple of weeks, as Harry seemed to have acknowledged defeat and cut ties with the young red-head.

Hermione seemed much happier about this too, as it meant that the four could concentrate more effectively on their studies and she wouldn't have to put up with the boy's ridiculous behaviour. He had even started skipping classes for Merlin's sake. Professor McGonagall had been so mad with him that she had docked forty points from her own house when he failed to show up for the second consecutive Transfiguration lesson that week.

Harry didn't know what had happened to Ron either. In truth he felt a little guilty that maybe he giving up on him had caused Ron to go into some state of depression or something but Susan managed to convince him that he couldn't be held responsible for Ron Weasley's stupidity.

In the past two weeks Ron alone had lost Gryffindor house over one hundred house points, an amount substantial enough to knock them back into second place behind Slytherin. Most of the house had taken to shunning him, something that apparently served the young first year quite well as he never seemed to spend any more time than necessary in the common room. No one really knew where he went, and though Harry thought of using the Marauders Map to check on him, his friends thought he should just let matters be. They had already tried intervening with Ron to get him to stop acting so selfishly but the boy just didn't listen.

It was that very next day that it happened.

Gryffindor had lost over a hundred house points in what the Hogwarts rumour mill speculated had to be the single poorest case of judgement by a student in history. No one knew what happened, only that Ron Weasley had been checked into the Infirmary the night before.

A few Gryffindors wanted answers, and had tried to break into the hospital wing to interrogate him, but Madame Pomphrey wasn't letting anybody get by on her watch, meaning that no-one would know the true cause of the event until after Ron was cleared to leave the ward.

The Slytherins of course thought this was hilarious, seeing the house of lions fall from first place in the house cup standings all the way down to last, and were relentless in tormenting them about it.

Malfoy was easily the worst. He even laughed about the fact that come the board of governors meeting next week, Ron Weasley wouldn't be the only idiot to be kicked out of Hogwarts.

Harry did his best to ignore him, but Malfoy seemed intent on following him around, forcing him to overhear his taunting.

"Serves that peasant right if you ask me," said Draco loudly as he talked to Crabbe and Goyle on the way to Potions that afternoon, knowing that Harry and his friends were only a few steps ahead of him. "Clearly he's as stupid as he looks if our dear gamekeeper thinks keeping a dragon locked up on school grounds is an example of acceptable behaviour. Too bad it was only Weasel that the dragon bit, can you imagine the public uproar if someone of more reputable status was affected? They'd be calling for his head!"

Harry wanted to turn around and hex the idiot so badly after hearing that, but his friends grasp on his arms wouldn't let him. A part of him told him it was only Malfoy making up another one of his stupid tales to try and pull one over on him, but another part of him knew that Hagrid owning a dragon wasn't as ridiculous as it should've been.

Either way the four friends couldn't wait for that Potions class to be over with so they could make another visit to Hagrid.

He might have been trying to avoid them recently, but they weren't going to let that stop them from getting the answers they needed.

* * *

Hagrid hadn't been this scared since he had been forced to give up Aragog, and that almost fifty years ago.

He had hidden Norbert away in the Forbidden Forest to try and protect him should anybody from the Ministry come to take him away, knowing that he could very well go to Azkaban for his actions.

He felt awful that that Ron boy had been bit, but he knew it wasn't Norbert's fault; he had just wanted to play with him.

He was broken from his panic however, when he heard the sound of several fists banging on the door to his cottage.

Quickly trying to cover up the scorch marks of his home with whatever blankets or pillows he had left, Hagrid got up to answer the door, only to reveal the angry faces of four first year Gryffindors.

"Hagrid, please tell me for the love of Merlin, you're not in any way responsible for Ron ending up in the hospital with a possibly infected dragon bite wound?" said Harry immediately, not even waiting for Hagrid to usher them inside.

Hagrid stood there frozen in the doorway, not knowing if it was best to allow them inside away from prying ears, or it was best to keep them away from the inevitable evidence of his latest pet.

The kids however took his silence as all the answer they needed. Malfoy must've been right. Hagrid had been hosting a dragon on school grounds for the past month, and Ron must've been injured by it.

"Hagrid do you realize how much trouble you're going to be in!" shouted Neville, as Susan and Hermione slipped by the half-giant to check the inside of the hut, there wands both drawn and ready for any sign of attack.

They had already uncovered the scorch marks on both the couch and the kitchen table for Hagrid had awoken from his stupor and shut the door.

It wasn't long before they found the large book entitled, _Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit, _under his pillow.

"Hagrid what were you thinking! You live in a wooden house!" shrieked Hermione, as she stared down at the confirming evidence that the man had in fact sheltered a baby dragon in his home.

Hagrid just hung his head in shame, as he tried to explain his actions.

The kids of course couldn't understand why he seemed to think taking a dragon egg from a stranger was a formidable thing, but Hagrid kept insisting that they were just seriously misunderstood creatures.

"Is this why you've been avoiding us this term?" said Harry, noticing the tooth marks on the chair that he had pulled out to sit down on.

Hagrid just grumbled, but he could distinctly make out what sounded like, "that and Flamel."

The four friends just exchanged guilty looks.

"Hagrid we know you know about the stone. You were the one that brought it to Hogwarts at the start of the year. Can't you just tell us? We're only trying to help protect it," pleaded Harry.

"Look it's bad enough that you know so much, so don't ask me to tell you more, cas Dumbledore hasn't told me anything. The stone's here for good reason, and that's all you need to be concerned about. You shouldn't have even been aware of all this much less wanting to get involved."

"Well what if we can help?" said Susan.

"Psh! Don't think that'll be all that necessary with all the protections Dumbledore's commissioned over the thing."

"Aha so you admit that there's multiple protections then?" said Harry grinning triumphantly, as Hagrid put his face in his right palm, acknowledging his slip up.

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was fighting a smile; apparently Hermione's tactic of flattery was a weak point for the big man.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really." Susan said mimicking Hermione's tone of voice. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Neville could only beam at Hermione and Susan for their brilliance.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some of the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout – Professor Flitwick – Professor McGonagall – Professor Quirrel – Professor Snape – and Dumbledore himself."

They couldn't be sure which protections Snape had already figured out, so they decided to at least check with Hagrid to make sure he didn't know how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Hermione anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," muttered Neville to the others, leaning back in his chair dejectedly, only to have it snap under his weight since it was severely weakened by the dragon's teeth marks.

Hagrid winced, and Susan let out a little chuckle, as Harry took out his wand to repair the chair, taking time to make sure he removed any sign that a dragon had ever attacked the chair.

"You know you can't keep him, right Hagrid?" said Hermione sadly, causing Hagrid's mood to immediately turn to one of sorrow as he looked out the window towards the Forbidden Forest.

He didn't want to give Norbert up, but he knew he couldn't live here. Even if there was enough food in the forest for him, it was still too close to the school, and not everyone would take kindly to having a fully-grown dragon resting on school grounds. It would probably cause a world of trouble for Dumbledore as well, and that was the last thing he wanted.

"I know," he said sadly, wiping his eyes on the ends of his moleskin jacket before pulling out a handkerchief from his back pocket to blow his nose. "But what am I supposed to do?"

"Can't you send him to the dragon reserve Charlie works at?" supplied Neville, causing Hagrid to raise his head off the table and the other three kids to beam at him.

"We'll even help you write the letter," said Hermione, pulling out a quill and parchment from her backpack.

Beside her, Harry nodded his head in agreement. "I'm sure Hedwig would be happy to make the trip. She's not too pleased with me since I haven't really had that many deliveries for her to make, so she'll definitely appreciate making the long trip."

Hagrid just smiled at the four kids that were being so helpful to him, before he nodded his agreement.

* * *

It was nearly a week before they heard back from Charlie, but the four couldn't be happier when Hedwig returned with his letter.

_Dear Hagrid,_

_ How are you? Thanks for the letter – I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they musn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

_ Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark. _

_ Send me and answer as soon as possible._

_Your friend,_

_Charlie_

After reading it over, the four first year Gryffindors looked at each other, each with varying degrees of uncertainty.

"We've got the invisibility cloak," said Harry, trying to convince himself as much as everyone else that this plan could be feasible. "It shouldn't be too difficult – I think the cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert, and I can easily disillusion the other three people."

"I love it when a plan comes together," said the now smirking Susan.

Hermione and Neville just rolled their eyes. It was so bloody stupid, but it was the only plan they had.

* * *

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall.

Part of the reason they were extremely nervous about what they were attempting to do was that they had the nagging suspicion that Malfoy was on to them, judging by the smirks he wore whenever he saw any of the kids.

There was also the added problem, that since the two people under the cloak had to hold the 5 foot long poisonous dragon, they wouldn't be able to use the Marauders Map since the disillusioned figures couldn't either, as a floating map would be a dead give-away.

They knew it was a risk, but it was the only chance they had to get the dragon out of the castle. It was too late to owl Charlie back, so they were just going to have to go for it.

Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

"He's got lots o' rats and some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded as though Teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Neville and Hermione covered the crate with the invisibility cloak while Harry cast the disillusionment charm on all four of them.

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew.

They had decided to split the workload by taking turns carrying the thing in pairs, while the other two acted as scouts, monitoring for any movements in the hallways ahead or behind of the pair that were carrying the dragon.

It seemed like a decent plan, although they hadn't incorporated for how slow a pace they'd be moving at.

The crate was far heavier then they originally thought it would have been, and they didn't dare risk casting a featherweight charm on it with a live animal inside. They thought they might be able to get away with a levitation charm but even that proved too difficult as they couldn't see the object they were supposed to be focusing on.

As a result, they had to stop on every floor to catch their breath before setting off for the Astronomy tower once again.

As Harry and Hermione hoisted the crate up the stairs onto the corridor below the Astronomy tower, the two nearly collapsed under sheer exhaustion. Somehow Neville and Susan must have been caught while they were roaming the corridors as lookouts, as they had never returned to carry the crate when it was their turn.

The most likely conclusion was that Filch or Mrs. Norris had caught them, as Harry realized he hadn't thought to silence them or remove their smell beforehand.

Things only got more dangerous when they saw Professor McGonagall, in a tartan dressing gown and a hairnet, dragging Draco Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And thirty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you – "

"You don't understand, Professor, I overheard Potter's conversation at dinner – he and his friends are planning to smuggle a dragon out of the castle!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on – I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

Both Harry and Hermione, despite being invisible, scentless, and silenced, held their breath as they passed, waiting until they were sure they were out of hearing distance before setting out again.

The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again.

Hermione was doing some sort of dance in the middle of the room. "Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Please don't," joked Harry as he collapsed to the floor panting in exhaustion, eliciting a few chuckles from Hermione.

Contemplating the fate of their other two best friends, they sat together waiting, with Norbert thrashing around in his crate.

Not five minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed the kids the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then the group shook hands thanking each other for their help.

At last, Norbert was going… going… gone.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon – Malfoy in detention – what could spoil their happiness?

The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness, Neville and Susan both standing on either side of him looking truly sorry for getting caught and ruining the mission.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble."


	24. The Forbidden Forest

Things couldn't have been worse.

Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor. Where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other.

There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and they might as well be packing their bags already.

* * *

"Professor!" called Filch as he shoved the four first years into McGonagall's office.

McGonagall was not in a good mood. First she'd had to deal with the youngest Weasley's incompetence, even suffering through a painful meeting with the boy's mother that consisted of her yelling bloody murder at him for skipping out on his classes. The whole fiasco had all but ruined the exemplary start Gryffindor had had to the year, and most likely cost them their chance of winning the house cup for the first time in ten years.

Then, if that weren't bad enough she'd found Malfoy sneaking around the corridors on the 7th floor after curfew. She hadn't believed his cock and bull story that her prized pupils could ever condone to something so stupid as trying to smuggle a dragon out of the school, and yet here they were, dumped in her office, Filch standing behind them grinning like a madman.

She had never been so mad to see the four children she considered to be family. Not only had they broken almost a dozen school rules that night, but they had also proven Malfoy's statement correct, something that Snape would surely take great pleasure lording over her at the next staff meeting.

"Found these two scoping around on the fifth floor," said Filch, pointing at Neville and Susan. "The other two were up in the Astronomy tower."

If she wasn't so mad, McGonagall might have done a double take at that last statement. The Astronomy tower was renown amongst students for its reputation, but certainly Harry and Hermione were far too young to adhere to any behaviour of the sort. She would almost prefer to hear that they were smuggling out a dragon.

"Well, do you have anything to say to explain yourselves?" asked McGonagall, tight lipped and arms crossed, her beady eyes staring down at the four children that she would have least expected to disappoint her as much as she was at that moment.

The kids didn't say anything, they just stood there refusing to speak, yet not taking eye contact off of her.

"Very well then," said McGonagall, leaning back in her office chair. "You leave me no choice but to take fifty points away from Gryffindor on behalf of your actions, and you'll all serve detention the following Saturday with Filch here."

The four young Gryffindors hung their heads in shame while Filch grinned happily, taking his leave and slipping out of the office, no doubt looking for more students to punish.

"Fifty points," moaned Neville. "How are we supposed to catch up to Slytherin now?"

McGonagall wasn't done though. "Perhaps you misunderstood me Mr. Longbottom. What I meant was fifty points, each."

Harry's eyes flew wide open, and Hermione let out a soft whimpering noise.

"Additionally I will be calling to confer with your parents on behalf of your recent behaviour, hopefully they can also impose on you the severity of your actions. Maybe next time you'll think twice before you attempt something so reckless."

McGonagall watched the four leave her office looking ashamed of themselves for their actions. She knew she had been harsh with them, but she hoped that it would serve as a reminder the next time they found themselves in a similar position. After all, she had had years to prepare herself for those four to come to Hogwarts, and she was determined to ensure that they respected her with the proper authority she deserved. The last thing she needed was for them to be as reckless as the Marauders were during their school years, because they thought their closeness with their Head of House would grant them leeway. No, it was better to be firm with them from the beginning, at least that way they wouldn't get themselves into so much trouble. Even if it meant having to sit through another year of Snape's gloating because Slytherin won the House Cup.

But while McGonagall's efforts may have been in their best interests, the kids certainly didn't realize this.

In truth, they felt horrible. Not only had they completely ruined Gryffindors chances of winning the House Cup, but also now they were going to have to confess to smuggling a baby dragon out of the school to their family.

They could only dread in anticipation as to how their housemates would take this latest bit of news. They certainly wouldn't be very popular with them the next morning.

* * *

Ron had probably never been so annoyed in his short lifetime as he was at that moment.

He had been released from the Infirmary the day prior, after listening to his human howler of a mother threatening to bring him straight home if he so much as set another toe out of line, only to discover that everyone in his house held him directly responsible for Gryffindor's loss in house points.

No, it's not like it mattered that he spent the last week and a half lying in a hospital bed with a life threatening injury, or that Harry and his friends were the cause of more than half of those lost points, everyone despised him.

Of course none of this would have happened if he had Harry's fame. He was of course spared the neglect and ridicule that he was currently receiving. All he had to deal with was a little good-natured teasing and an increase of rumours linking him and his best friend Hermione Granger, but even Ron would take that over the cold shoulder.

Dean and Seamus wouldn't talk to him, the girls wouldn't look at him, and even his own siblings ignored him.

Percy was practically acting like he wasn't a member of the same family, while Fred and George were too busy following Harry and Hermione around with a little paper notebook, always ready for someone to come and whisper something to them before giving the infamous duo some amount of money.

Apparently news of Harry Potter's escapade the night before had sparked a new gambling pool amongst the house of lions over when the two young Gryffindors would formally begin dating.

Just the thought made Ron want to be sick to his stomach. _To hell with them!_ Thought Ron grumpily, _I don't need them anyway._

* * *

At the same time that Harry and his three best friends were currently receiving a thorough chastising from their family for their irresponsible behaviour over their telecommunication mirrors, Draco Malfoy sat alone in his dormitory contemplating the success of his ploy.

While it hadn't turned out the way he hoped it would have he could still consider it a success. It didn't even matter that the dragon was gone, as they had plenty of evidence to prove Hagrid's guilt. He may have landed himself in detention, but the whole thing had cost Gryffindor close to three hundred points, so there was definitely a bright side to the whole thing.

Getting up from his four-poster bed, Draco set out to the Owlery before he was due to meet up with Filch in the Entrance Hall for his detention.

He figured father would want to know about this.

* * *

"A bloody dragon," screeched Lily as the four first years cowered in fear at her tone of voice. It didn't matter how much Gryffindor courage you had, when your mother was that angry with you, you knew you were in trouble. "What in Merlin's name were you thinking?"

"Mum we had to," said Harry, "Hagrid would've been sacked."

"Well he should have been," screeched Emma, appalled that anyone could possibly think a dragon was a safe animal to have around children.

The four first years hung their heads in shame at the chastising their mothers were giving them, they figured they'd be grounded for the rest of the summer once they got home for the holidays after this.

Even the Marauders weren't sticking up for them, as they were of the opinion that smuggling a dragon out of the castle was a little out of the league of four first years. Plus there was the fact that they had lost the Invisibility cloak as a result, and they weren't very happy about that either, though they didn't dare bring that up in front of the mothers.

Matthew, Clarissa and Joshua were probably the only ones who found the whole thing hilarious and were fascinated by the kid's description of the dragon, but the parents quickly hushed them for only making things worse.

"Look we know we did wrong, but can you please do something to save Hagrid?" Harry asked, practically begging the family to do this. "Hogwarts is his home, it's all he has."

The other three kids nodded their heads in agreement. "Mum, he might have a proverse adoration for rare and dangerous wild animals, but that's only because its who he is. Hagrid is the one person that sees the good in everyone, you take that away and Hogwarts becomes a little more gloomy," said Hermione.

"He's also our friend," said Susan. "He's been there to cheer us up more times than we care to count. Please don't let him lose his job, Hogwarts needs him."

The parents just exchanged regretful glances with each other. It seemed they were still hesitant to take any form of action, after learning that he had inadvertently threatened the lives of their children.

"Come on," pleaded Neville. "We know you guys loved Hagrid during your years at school. Think of how much he cared for you. He's probably the most gentle soul alive, he never intended for anyone to get hurt, all he wanted was to live out his childhood dream. Can't you just do this for him, he'd be lost without Hogwarts. He made a mistake, we all do it, don't let him lose his life because of it."

The four kids allowed themselves the briefest of smiles when the parents hung their heads in defeat, knowing they would do what they could to save their friend.

* * *

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading the five first years outside, as he walked out of the entrance hall.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them.

"Oh yes… hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me… hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office…"

They marched off across the dark grounds. Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible judging by Filch's jubilation.

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut.

They heard a distant shout. "Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

The four friends felt their heart's rise; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad.

Their relief must have shown on their faces however, because Filch said, "I suppose you lot think you'll be enjoying yourselves with that oaf? Well think again – it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

Harry and his friends refused to flinch at these words, lest they give the caretaker the satisfaction of scaring them, but Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. "We can't go in there at night – there're all sorts of things in there – werewolves, I heard."

"Oh there's much worse than just werewolves in these woods," gushed Filch happily.

Hagrid came striding towards them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already."

"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, turning away from the group and walking back to the castle, but not before one last nasty remark, "for what's left of them."

Malfoy now turned to Hagrid. "There's no way I'm going in there and there's nothing you can do to make me!"

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be writing lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd –"

"- tell yer that's how it is as Hogwarts," growled Hagrid. "If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"

Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously but then dropped his gaze.

"Right now listen very carefully cas this is it what we're going to be doing tonight and you best be on your guard for danger…"

* * *

"The bloody Oaf's lost it," whimpered Malfoy. "Sending first years off into a forest filled with god knows what to look for some stupid animal that's hunting unicorns."

"Will you shut up!" whispered Susan furiously who was holding onto the back of Harry's robes for protection.

Hagrid had split them up into groups to cover more ground. He had taken Hermione and Neville, while Harry, Susan and Malfoy were left with Fang, Hagrid's big lazy dog, who was currently walking slowly in front of Harry, sniffing the ground for any scent of what animal could have been attacking the unicorns.

Hagrid had told them that whatever it was it wasn't supposed to be there, and was a serious threat, since only a very powerful creature could kill a creature as strong as a unicorn.

Of course that only meant that whatever the beast was, it could be a very serious threat to the 3 kids if it found them, and none of them had brought their wands.

They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. Harry could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

"Look –" he murmured, holding out his arm to stop Susan.

Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.

It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. It's long slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

Harry had taken one step towards it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered… Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast.

Harry, Malfoy, Susan and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, it lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted – so did Fang. The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry, not even noticing Susan cowering behind him. It got to its feet and came swiftly towards him, blood still dripping from its mouth – neither student could move out of fear.

* * *

Neville and Hermione were both following close behind Hagrid as they walked through the forest, the gamekeeper armed with his crossbow as he expertly navigated through the forest.

He seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go, and they were both content to follow along on the clear trail, until they suddenly heard a piercing scream from way off to their right.

Before they could even blink Hagrid had ran off through the bushes, leaving the two to scramble to catch up to him as they all ran off in the direction of the other group.

* * *

"How could you possibly not see this as grounds to relieve the overgrown fool from his post," spat Malfoy across the Board of Governors table.

James, Frank, Amelia and Sirius just sat there, refusing to give into the Lucius's claims that the gamekeeper was a threat to society and needed to be locked up in Azkaban for the greater good of their people.

"He's a half-giant for Merlin's sake," groaned Stephen Nott, one of Malfoy's biggest supporters.

"So," said James, dismissing the matter entirely as if it wasn't worth a second thought. "Rubeus Hagrid cares more for that school than anyone sitting at this table. I know for a fact that he would lay down his life before he knowingly threatened Hogwarts and I can't in good conscience relieve someone of her post with that morale."

"Oh so you've forgotten about the time he unleashed the monster from the Chamber of Secrets upon another student, earning himself not only an expulsion but having his wand-snapped for his crimes too?" said Lucius cynically.

Neither James nor Sirius allowed him the satisfaction of seeing their blood boiling as a result of that comment. Being master pranksters they had long since learned to control their emotions as to never let their facial features give away what they were truly thinking. Amelia and Frank, however were a different story.

"You know yourself that Hagrid never would have done such a thing," said Frank, standing up and knocking the chair to the floor in one action. "The creature was never found, and Hagrid was convicted without so much as a single piece of evidence, only the testimony of one student. You think that would be enough to convict someone in a muggle court of law?"

"Far be it from me to relish the day where we result to follow what the muggles do to solve their insignificant little problems," said Lucius, leaning back in his chairs and pushing his fingers together, making him look every bit the villain from a muggle movie.

"I suggest you watch your tongue Lucius," warned Amelia."Wouldn't want someone gathering evidence to be used against you..."

"Why would anyone want to report Malfoy Sr." remarked an old man by the name of Robertson Nichols, another old pureblood that supported Malfoy's views. "The man is like a upstanding model of how each citizen should conduct themself. You know he's given more money to support St. Mungo's since the last war then any other citizen in our society?"

Amelia just grunted at that. She was well aware of Lucius's investments, having had several of her best detectives look into each one. She knew he had an alternative motive for each one he made, but she had yet to figure it out. All she knew was that the donations he made granted him substantial lee-way into several key social organizations, even giving him the power to recommend people for key positions in institutions like St. Mungo's.

"Forgive me if I am above reimbursing the corrupted Ministry with stolen gold to ensure that my beliefs are instituted as social law," drawled Sirius, fixing Malfoy Sr. with a look of absolute loathing.

A few of the members of the Board of Governors began to shout over each other at this, claiming that the Ministry was running perfectly according to standard, Malfoy's gold was not stolen but the result of centuries of careful investments and that the written laws were for the better of magical society.

"Say what you want, but there's no way you bigots are getting our vote, and without a unanimous decision, you do not have the power to relieve a Hagrid from his post," said James, getting up and pushing in his chair so he could walk out of the meeting room, Amelia, Frank, and Sirius following right behind him.

Lucius watched them go with growing hatred. He was going to get back at them for what they had said on this day. No one insults a Malfoy.

* * *

Harry felt a pain pierced his head like he'd never felt before, it was as though his scar was on fire – half blinded he staggered backwards. He heard hooved behind him, galloping, and something jumped clean over them, charging at the figure.

The pain in Harry's head was so bad he fell to his kneed. He could hear Susan screaming his name beside him, shaking him to get his attention, but Harry couldn't focus.

It took nearly three minutes before the pain regressed. When he looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over him, it looked young with white-blond hair, but it seemed friendly – considering he just saved the two kids from whatever that thing was.

"Are you alright?" said the centaur, pulling Harry to his feet.

"Yes – thank you – what was that?"

The centaur didn't answer. The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale blue sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar which stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.

"You are the Potter boy," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time – especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way."

"My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Harry and Susan could clamber on to his back.

There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Two more centaurs came bursting through the trees, their flanks heavy and sweaty.

"Firenze!" thundered the bigger one. "What are you doing? You have a human on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realise who this is? Said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy, the one the stars speak of, the one who will unite us. The quicker he gets back to safety, the better."

The two centaurs seemed to calm at this as they stared at Harry's bleeding scar.

"What have you been telling him?" asked the smaller one. "Remember, we cannot go against the movements of the heavens."

Firenze didn't seem interested in arguing with the other two centaurs however, as he rode off into the bushes with Harry and Susan on his back.

Harry however, had a few questions he wanted answered.

"Firenze, what did you mean I would unite you, and what was that thing you saved us from?"

Firenze slowed to a walk, warned the kids to bow their head in case of low-hanging branches but did not answer Harry's question. They made their way through the trees in silence for so long that Harry thought Firenze didn't want to talk to him anymore.

They were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.

"Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

"No," said Harry startled by the odd question. "We've only used the horn and tail-hair in Potions."

"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

"But who'd be that desperate?" asked Susan. "If you're going to be cursed for ever, death's better, isn't it?"

"It is," agreed Firenze, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else – something that will bring you back to full strength and power – something that will mean you can never die. Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

The two kids paled. "The philosopher's stone!" whispered Susan

"But I don't understand who –" said Harry.

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Harry's heart. Over the rustling of the trees, he seemed to hear once more what Dumbledore had told him years ago: "Some say he died, but I wouldn't bet that he had enough human left in him to die, he's still out there, waiting, waiting for his chance."

"Do you mean," croaked Susan, "that was Vol-"

"Harry! Susan! Are you all right?"

Hermione and Neville were running towards them down the path, Hagrid following close behind them with Fang, and Draco walking swiftly behind at his heels. He still looked as uncomfortable as ever walking around the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, and though he despised the man, was careful to never let Hagrid get more than ten feet away from him.

The two kids could only nod their head, their minds still whirling from what Firenze had told them.

"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."

He turned and galloped back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry and Susan shivering behind him.

* * *

As soon as the four friends made it back to the Gryffindor common room, Harry pulled his friends into a corner and set up an extensive set of privacy charms before telling Hermione and Neville everything he and Susan had heard from Firenze.

"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort… and Voldemort's waiting in the forest… and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich… Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have… the other centaurs were mad… they were talking about interfering with what the heavens say is going to happen… They must show that Voldemort's coming back… they must think that Voldemort's going to kill me…"

Beside him he could still see Susan cringing ever so slightly whenever he said the name of the Dark Lord. No doubt she was another pureblood that had been exposed to the horror stories of You-Know-Who as a young girl.

"Well what are we supposed to do, wait for Snape to give the Stone to Voldemort so he can come after you," said Neville sarcastically.

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me and all the adults in our family say that it's a very imprecise branch of magic," said Hermione, trying to offer some words of comfort on the matter.

The sky turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over.

When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his invisibility cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it: _Just in Case._


	25. Through the Trap Door

Harry hardly got any sleep the following week; he was too on edge at the threat of Voldemort bursting through the door to kill him.

None of his other friends were much better off, also finding it difficult to focus on their exams, but at least they didn't have the habitual nightmare that Harry did of listening to the hooded figure taunt him mercilessly standing over the body of his immobile mother, before firing the killing curse at him.

Harry couldn't be more relieved when he walked out of his last exam. Thankful that now he wouldn't have to focus on two tasks at once.

"No more revision," sighed Susan happily, stretching out on the grass underneath a large oak tree down by the lake, as Hermione sat beside her mentally fretting over any possible answers that she might have gotten wrong.

Neville was smiling cheerfully, though Harry didn't look at all happy. They knew he was still troubled by what he had seen in the Forbidden Forest the week before.

"You could look more cheerful, Harry, we just finished are first year at Hogwarts!" said Hermione, trying to get her friends attention off of the looming danger of Voldemort. She was well aware that Harry hadn't been getting much sleep since the night in the forbidden forest, seeing as Neville had told them that he often woke up in the middle of the night because of his screaming. Whatever his nightmares were however, Harry never seemed to want to talk about it, so there was little he could do to help.

Harry was rubbing his forehead.

"I wish I knew what this mean!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting – it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," suggested Hermione in a worrying voice.

"That won't help, I already had every healer in St. Mungo's take a look at it when I was a toddler, nobody knows what type of scar it is, only that it's definitely a curse scar as a side affect of the killing curse. Besides I think it's a warning… it means danger's coming… that would explain at least why Dumbledore seems to think the scar might be helpful… whatever that means."

"Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway we've never had any proof that Snape found out how to get past Fluffy." Said Susan trying to lift her friend's spirits.

Harry could just sit there looking out across the Hogwarts grounds as his friends tried to think up as many reasons as possible for him to relax.

He couldn't relax though, his scar was burning like never before, and he knew it was like a warning signal that danger was coming. The only other times it ever hurt, was when he had a nightmare about Voldemort, or the time he'd met him in the forest.

He had come to the conclusion that the greater the pain, the more realistic the sense of danger, and judging by the eye watering pain he had been feeling all day, he had a very good reason to be on edge. Snape would be going for the Stone, and soon.

He knew that the protections wouldn't hold up forever, it was only a matter of time before Snape figured out how to get past Fluffy.

Harry suddenly jumped to his feet, running to Hagrid's hut as fast as his legs could carry him.

He heard his friends shout after him, "Harry! Where are you going!" but didn't slow down for them, he didn't even pause to look over his shoulders to see if they were following, all he knew was that he had to get to Hagrid's to ask him something, and fast.

It wasn't long before Harry had reached him.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time for a drink?"

"Can't in a hurry. Hagrid, that night you won Norbert, what did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn't take his cloak off."

Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas.

"What did you talk about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up" said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah… he asked what I did, an' I told him I was a gamekeeper here… He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after… So I told him… an' I said that I'd always really wanted a dragon… an' then… Let's see… yeah, then he said he had a dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted… but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home… So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy…"

"And did he – did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Well – yeah – how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep –"

Hagrid stopped, dropping his bowl on the ground with a horrified expression on his face. "I shouln'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out, as he turned around to face Harry again. "Forget I said it! Hey – where're you goin'?" but Harry had already taken off running back to his friends, who were only just coming over the hill now.

"Harry! What are you doing?" shrieked Hermione. She was not in a good mood, Harry was avoiding them, running off, and there was the threat of a revived Dark Lord resurfacing. What in Merlin's name was he doing going off by himself?

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," panted Harry. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy in exchange for the dragon egg, and it was either Snape or Voldemort."

If Harry had stopped, he would've seen the colour drain out of his friend's faces, but he was already off on a run towards the castle, desperate to get to Dumbledore.

It was by some stroke of fate however; that the first person he ran into as he reached the castle was Professor McGonagall.

"Professor!" shouted Harry, "I need to see Professor Dumbledore."

"See Professor Dumbledore?" repeated Professor McGonagall, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"

Harry swallowed nervously – he knew he could trust McGonagall with this information, she was practically family after all. He just didn't know what she'd do if he told her.

"Um… We need to talk to him about the prophecy," said Harry, knowing it wasn't the full truth but that he wasn't necessarily lying. If the stone really did concern Voldemort then this was a matter of the prophecy after all. He felt horrible not trusting his aunt with the whole truth, but he couldn't risk her preventing them from making a play for the stone if they had to protect it. "Please, it's really important that we speak to him as soon as possible."

McGonagall stared down at them for quite some time, as if she was trying to gauge whether or not they were up to something. Finally after what seemed like an eternity she signalled for them to walk with her.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said as she continued to walk down the hallways, confiscating a Fanged Frisbee from a pair of Hufflepuff fourth years. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?" said a very pale Neville, like the other three children he was having to walk exceptionally fast to keep up with McGonagall's swift pace.

McGonagall however came to a stop at these words and turned to face the boy that had addressed her. "Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Longbottom, he has many demands on his time – "

"But this is important," said Susan, trying to back her friend up.

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Ms. Bones?" McGonagall questioned with a hint of a smile on her face.

But while she seemed to be enjoying the friendly banter, Harry was hesitant to waste time and decided to cut straight to the chase.

"It's about the Philosopher Stone."

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms but she didn't pick them up.

"How do you know -?" she spluttered.

"Professor, I think – I know – that Sn – that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor –"

"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "Now I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

The four Gryffindors stood there, utterly crushed that their aunt hadn't believed them. The adults may not take the threat to the stone seriously, but they knew trouble was just around the corner, and with no-one else prepared to do anything about it, it looked like the responsibility would be left to them.

* * *

"It's going to be tonight. He's going to steal the stone tonight," said Harry, his face pale and his eyes glittering. "I've got to stop him, I'm the only one who can stop Voldemort, but I'd rather stop Snape from getting the Stone first, so tonight, I'm going down there to get the Stone first."

"You can't!" cried Hermione.

"Harry, think of what the family will say," said Neville.

"You'll be kicked out of Hogwarts if you do, we've already gotten into enough trouble this year, this would surely put the nail in the coffin," reasoned Susan.

"SO WHAT?" shouted Harry. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Manor and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It's only dying a bit later then I would have done, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you 4 can say is going to stop me!"

"You're right, Harry," said Hermione in a small voice after a brief silence.

"I'll use the invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got it back."

"Well which of us are going to be disillusioned?" asked Susan.

Harry just stared at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"Oh, come off it Harry, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"

"But… But you'll be in danger" sputtered Harry in a failed show of protest.

"AND WHAT?" shouted Hermione. "We're just supposed to let you face it by yourself?"

"Harry you might be stronger then all of us, but that doesn't mean we can't help you," said Neville in a quiet voice.

"But if we get caught, you guys will be expelled too."

Neville just grinned and clapped his friend on the shoulder before saying, "we're family Harry, if you go. I go."

His other friends just gave him an encouraging smile and nodded their head in agreement.

* * *

After dinner that day the four friends sat nervously in one corner of the common room.

Hermione could be seen skimming through all of her notes, hoping to come across one of the enchantments they were about to try and break, while Neville and Susan were on the floor playing a game of Wizards Chess to try and distract themselves. Harry just sat there watching his friends, wondering what he would have to do to make sure they made it through this safely.

Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.

"Better get the cloak," muttered Neville, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs to their dark dormitory. But when he went to pull out the cloak and the Marauders Map, his eyes fell on the flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas. He pocketed it to use on Fluffy – he didn't feel much like singing – or worse listen to the others try to sing.

And with that thought, he ran back to the silent common room, grabbing the cloak and the Marauders Map. He decided to let his three friends use the cloak while disillusioning himself.

Taking out his wand, he once again performed the advanced spell as his friends watched his body disappear before their eyes.

"When this is over, you've got to teach us that spell…" muttered Susan under her breath.

Neville actually let out a light chuckle at this. "Yeah Harry, it's more useful than anything else we've learned all year. Who would want to make a pineapple tap-dance when they could make themselves invisible."

"You've got to work yourselves up to it," explained Hermione, irritated that she too had yet to learn the spell. "The disillusionment charm is a 6th year spell, and even then few people can master it."

Harry ignored them as he cast a few more charms on all four of them to silence their feet and remove their scent. They were going to make sure Filch didn't catch them sneaking out after curfew this time.

However, before his three friends could throw the cloak around themselves, a light flickered on from the bottom of the boy's dormitory. There standing at the far side of the common room, was an angry looking Ron Weasley.

"So that's it eh?" accused Ron, marching over to them with his wand drawn. "You're just going to leave and lose Gryffindor more points then you've already lost us? Don't you even care about our house? Or do you think you're better than us because of your fame?"

Neville, Hermione and Susan looked at each other as if to decide the best course of action to take.

Harry on the other hand thought they had wasted enough time with this little charade.

Ron never even saw the stunner leave Harry's wand and hit him in the back, as he dropped onto the carpeted floor with a soft thud.

"You know you didn't have to knock him out," reasoned Hermione, slightly appalled that Harry had resorted to violence as his first resort. "We could have just deceived him or something."

"We don't have time for that," said Harry, levitating Ron's body over to one of the couches, and conjuring a blanket over him to make it look like he was simply sleeping.

Susan just grinned and rolled her eyes at her friend's casual display of magic. Some might find it scary, but there was no denying the fact that Harry was brilliant with his wand.

With the threat of Ron removed the three friends concealed themselves under the cloak and took out the Marauder's map to check to make sure the coast was clear.

If only they were two minutes earlier they would have seen the dot of Professor Quirrell and somebody named Tom Riddle enter the 3rd floor corridor.

* * *

The walk to the forbidden corridor, was a quiet one. They were able to avoid Peeves or anyone else, with the only close call coming from Mrs. Norris who was waiting at the bottom of one of the staircases they passed.

When they finally got to the third floor corridor, the door was already ajar.

"Well, there you are," Harry said quietly. "Snape's already got past Fluffy."

Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all of them the danger they were about to face.

"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," said Harry.

"Don't be stupid," said Hermione.

"We're not leaving you," said Neville.

Harry just shook his head and pushed the door open.

As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.

"What's that at its feet?" whispered Susan.

"Looks like a harp," said Hermione. "Snape must have left it there."

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes…"

He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased – it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Keep playing," Neville warned Harry as he slipped off the cloak and crept towards the trapdoor, Hermione and Susan following right behind him.

They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.

"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Neville, peering over the dog's back. "Anyone want to go first?"

When no one answered the call, Neville was left to grit his teeth and do it himself. He stepped carefully over the dog's legs, bent down and pulled the trap door open.

"What can you see?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Nothing – just black – there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

Harry, who was still playing the flute, pointed at himself.

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Neville. "I don't know how deep this goes."

Harry nodded, as he started to walk closer to the other three so he could climb through the trap door. He was even able to withdraw his wand from his robe pocket and cancel the charms that were placed on them.

"Honestly Harry put the flute down and just get over here," growled Hermione.

Harry grinned embarrassedly and put the flute back in his pocket, happy to see that Fluffy was still fast asleep.

He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at his friends and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"

"Right," said Susan.

"See you in a minute, I hope…" said Hermione reaching out to touch hands with Harry.

Giving his friend a warm smile, Harry grabbed her hand, before letting go, and falling backwards into the black pit.

Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and –

PLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.

"It's OK!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Susan followed straight away. She landed sprawled next to Harry.

"What's this stuff? Were her first words.

"Dunno, sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall."

Before Neville and Hermione could join them however they heard a loud bark from above. Apparently Fluffy must have woken up and Harry, who was already through the trap door, was the only one with a musical instrument in his possession.

The two looked at each other terrified that their friends were going to be ripped to shreds, only to see them scamper into the hole before the dog could get to them. They landed, still holding hands on the far side across from Harry and Susan.

"We must be miles be miles under the school," said Susan, looking up at the dim light of the trap door where she could still see Fluffy's jaws lashing out.

"Lucky this plant things here, really," said Harry.

"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"

She leapt up and struggled towards a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twists snakelike tendrils around her ankles. Neville was also able to scurry out of the plant's reach and get to the safety of the wall, but the plant bound both Susan and Harry tightly.

"Blimey! It's Devil's Snare," said Neville.

They could only watch in horror as their two friends fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.

"Stop moving!" ordered Neville. "It only fights harder, if you move!"

"Well how do we get free then?" asked Harry, who was now almost fully submerged by the plant.

Neville was in his element. "We need fire, Devil's Snare like the dark and damp – Hermione light one of your blue flames –"

Hermione, being of muggleborn descent, was currently having one of those moments where she momentarily forgot she was a witch, as she began frantically looking around for a pair of matches or anything to start a fire. It wasn't until she saw Neville taking out his wand to burn the tendrils closest to him with the same flame charm that she had used to set Snape's robes on fire during the first Quidditch match, did Hermione clue in.

She too took out her wand and began casting the charm, but it wasn't enough to save Harry and Susan, who were now almost completely submerged by the plant.

As soon as he saw what his friends were trying to do, Harry started to burn the plant around him, his skin erupting into flames, burning the plant on impact, as it dropped him through to the ground below.

"Harry!" shrieked Hermione. "Are you okay! What was that?"

"I'm fine Hermione, that was just me using my elemental abilities, don't worry I didn't get hurt or anything, the drop isn't far," called Harry as he incinerated the rest of the plant, allowing Neville, Hermione, and Susan to fall through.

Not stopping to ask any questions, the group carried on through a stone passageway, which was the only way on.

On and on they walked, following the dimly lit passageway, listening to the faint sound of buzzing getting louder and louder, as they became more and more scared of what lay ahead.

"Do you think it's a ghost?" asked Susan.

"I don't know… sounds like wings to me," said Hermione.

They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy, wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Harry.

"Probably," said Neville. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once… Well, there's nothing for it… I'll run."

And before any of them could stop him he did.

Covering his face with his arms and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled on the handle, but it was locked.

Seeing that it was safe, the others walked cautiously across the room. They tugged and heaved at the door but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora charm.

"Now what?" asked Harry.

"These birds… they can't be here just for decoration," said Susan.

They turned their heads upwards to look at the birds. They were soaring high overhead, glittering – glittering?

"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly, "they're keys! Winged keys – look carefully. So that must mean…" he looked around the chamber while the others squinted up at the flock of keys.

"…Yes – look! A Broomstick! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are hundreds of them!"

Whirling around, Susan examined the lock on the door.

"We're looking for a big, old fashioned one – probably silver, like the handle."

"But there's not enough broomsticks for all of us," said Harry.

"Harry, we're rubbish at flying, you're the one who's the youngest seeker in over a century, you can catch it," encouraged Neville.

Harry coloured a little at his praises but nonetheless proceed to grab hold of one of the broomsticks. As soon as he wrapped his hand around the mantle however, the keys ceased fluttering. Now they were screeching through the air at a speed so fast you could hardly see them.

Hermione, Neville and Susan, tried to help out and scan the swarm of keys for the one that would unlock the door but they were having no such luck. Or at least that was the case until Hermione had one of her more brilliant moments and realized they could cast the immobulous charm to slow them down, making it easier for Harry to find and catch the correct key.

It still took a little while, but eventually Harry's seeker reflexes won out, as he was able to catch the large silver key with a clipped wing.

His friend's cheers could be heard echoing around the chamber, as Harry landed and passed the key to Neville who jammed it into the lock and opened the door.

The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. Only once they stepped inside, did the lights flare up, revealing a large ornate chess set.

"Wicked!" whispered Susan, but the others were all shaking at the thought of having to play a chess piece in a game they were horrible at, and the losers found themselves killed.

"Right" said Susan, turning to face the other three. "We've going to have to play our way across to get to the next room… Now don't be offended or anything, but you're all pretty rubbish at chess – "

"We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."

"OK, Harry you take the place of the king, Hermione that bishop, Neville you can be the castle next to her, and I'm going to be a knight."

The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a bishop, a castle, a knight, and the king turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board leaving four empty squares for the kids to fill.

They were all terrified at the prospect at having to participate in such a deadly game, though they had complete faith in Susan. She had proven time and time again that she could compete with the very best in Gryffindor castle in Wizards Chess, and they had no doubt that she'd be able to find a way to pull out another victory here.

Susan on the other hand, wasn't as confident. In fact she was looking quite pale, something that didn't go unnoticed by her three friends.

"Come on Susan you can do this," cheered Neville.

"We believe in you," agreed Hermione, smiling up at her from her spot on the chessboard.

"It's just that I'm not sure I can get all four of us across, there's a chance one or two of us might get hit…" said Susan, trailing off nervously towards the end of his statement.

"We'll be ok, just do what you have to do, we trust you," said Harry, trying to replenish her confidence.

Susan just nodded his head, and started to direct the black pieces as the game began. They moved silently wherever she sent them, not asking any questions or showing any hesitation, thought their knees were trembling furiously.

Neville was the first to go down, his castle was taken in a play that allowed Hermione to move into a position that would corner the Queen. He stood strong until the very last moment, his bravery never wavering as the enemy knight approached. His very last words to them, were to keep going.

The knight that took him out smashed into him hard, throwing him off the board as he fell to the ground hard without a sound.

Susan was distraught at that, coming very close to dismounting her horse and rushing to her friend's side, but Harry wouldn't let her.

No matter what they had to keep playing. If they were going to have any hope of making it through the next door, they needed Susan to be focused on the game.

She was trembling like mad, while Hermione had tears in her eyes for their fallen friend, but they knew they had to keep going.

Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Susan only just noticed in time that Harry or Hermione were in danger and was able to get them to safety at the last possible moment. She herself darted around the board taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.

"We're nearly there," she muttered suddenly. "Let me think – let me think…"

The white queen turned her blank face towards him.

"Yes…" said Susan softly, "it's the only way… I've got to be taken."

"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.

"That's chess!" snapped Susan. "You've got to make sacrifices! Look at Neville, he got taken out twelve turns ago, but he did so without hesitation because he knew it would help us get to the next door. I take one step forward and she'll take me – that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Hermione!"

"But –"

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Susan – "

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"

There was nothing they could do. They could only watch in silence as she was taken, leaving Hermione to move forward to take the King.

When the white king took off his crown and threw it at his feet, the two remaining friends wasted no time in rushing to their friend's sides.

Harry's head was spinning, two of his friends were now injured and they didn't even know what other protections they had to surpass before they got to the stone. They had already gotten past Hagrid's, Sprouts, Flitwick's and now McGonagall's, which means that all that was left was Quirrell's and Snape's, plus whatever Dumbledore did.

He knew they had to keep going, but by the looks of it Susan and Neville needed help. He tried to focus on his magic and will it to heal his friends, but he was unable to recreate the golden glow that he had done when he was a baby. This frustrated him to no end, he resolved that he needed to dedicate time to working on healing spells this summer, something he had yet to start doing.

"Look there in no danger here, we should leave them and go on, they wouldn't have wanted us to stop now, they did what they did so we could go on." Said Hermione, taking charge of the situation seeing as Harry wasn't capable of speech at the moment. "We can come back for them once we've destroyed the stone."

Harry nodded his head sadly, as a few tears fell down his face while he held hands with each of his two fallen friends.

"They'll be okay Harry, I promise," said a teary face Hermione as she attempted to pull him up and lead him through the next door.

Harry could only follow her as he looked back on his two friends that had sacrificed themselves so that he could get to the stone.

Whatever it took, he was going to make sure their efforts weren't in vain.

* * *

It took a while, but Harry regained his composure, the only thought that was going through his mind was that he wouldn't allow Hermione to be hurt as well because of him.

It wasn't long before he was able to clue in on what their next task would be. The tell-tale stench could only be one thing – a troll.

What Harry didn't expect however, would be for that troll to already be lying dead on it's back in the middle of the room.

"Snape must've already been here," Hermione muttered.

Struggling to breath with the stench of the room, Harry pulled open the next-door revealing a small room with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

"This one must be Snape's," grumbled Harry, his fists clenching at his sides as he accidentally released a bout of magic that lashed out and smashed one of the statues at the side of the room.

As soon as they stepped over the threshold, a fire immediately sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either, it was purple, and Harry couldn't move it with his elemental abilities.

They also noticed that black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards.

The two friends just looked at each other, each realizing the same thing; they were trapped.

With nothing else in the room, the two Gryffindors had no choice but to consort the parchment on the table in the middle of the room for answers.

"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic – it's logic – a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here for ever."

This actually brought a smile to Harry's face. "I guess it's a good thing we've got you then, right Hermione?"

Hermione of course blushed at Harry's praise and was quite pleased that he had so much confidence in her, and set out to solve the puzzle.

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore, _

_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend; _

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

It took a few reads, but eventually Hermione turned around to face her friend, two bottles in her hands.

"This one will take us through to the next room, and this one will lead us back to Neville and Susan."

"But there's only enough in that for one person." Said Harry, pointing to the potion that would take them onwards.

"You're right," said Hermione. "Which is why you've got to take it." She said giving him the small flask.

"But what about you?" asked Harry, very nervous at the idea of splitting up.

"I'll go back and get Susan and Neville, take them to the hospital wing, and send word to Dumbledore," said Hermione as if it was the only logical solution.

Harry didn't seem very convinced however.

"Harry it has to be you, remember the prophecy, only you can do this, everything we've been through has been about getting you to this point. It doesn't matter if I were to go through with you or not, or Neville, or Susan. It's you that matters. You can do this," said Hermione passionately.

Harry didn't move, he could only stare at her as he felt tears come to his eyes. Gritting his teeth and giving a stiff nod, Harry told her to drink first so he could make sure she got across safely.

Hermione did so, taking the time to say good-luck to Harry; her lips trembling, before she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Harry, pleading with him to be careful and to come back safely.

Harry held onto her tightly and promised that he would, before he let her go, watching her cross through the purple flames with a sad smile on her face as the two Gryffindors waved goodbye to each other.

One to take Neville and Susan to the infirmary and send word for help, the other to stop Snape from getting his greasy hands on the stone.

Downing the ice cold fluid in one gulp, Harry dropped the bottle and let it smash to the ground beside him before he crossed through the black flames in front of him, his wand drawn and ready for the battle that surely awaited him.


	26. The Man with Two Faces

When Harry entered the dimly lit chamber, he saw what was possibly the last thing that he would have expected.

Standing in front of him was none other than poor, stuttering Professor Quirrell. But Quirrell didn't look the same way Harry last remembered him. Gone was the diminutive, scared persona and instead it was replaced with a sadistic look of contempt.

Unfortunately Quirrell took advantage of Harry's surprise, putting him into a full body bind with a quick, silent _Petrificus Totalus_.

Harry was shocked, how could Quirrell be the one after the stone, he was so sure it was Snape, after all the man had tried to kill him during his first Quidditch match.

Quirrell just gave him a predatory smile.

"Severus? Yes, he does seem like the type doesn't he, but no, I tried to kill you, and I would have succeeded if your friend Miss Granger hadn't accidentally bumped into me. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter-curse, trying to save you."

Harry could only stand there, frozen in place as he tried to stop his mind racing with these new revelations, all he knew was that he desperately had to raise his Occlumency shields so Quirrell could no longer read his thoughts.

"But none of that matters, Potter. Tonight you will be no more, and I shall rise again."

Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry and brought him down to stand behind Quirrell.

It was only then that Harry realised what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised.

"The mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmured, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this… but he's in London… I'll be far away by the time he gets back…"

Harry could hardly breathe considering how tight the ropes were squeezing him. He did however allow himself to think that if Quirrell was prepared to run from Dumbledore, then he might be able to stand a chance against him. The Headmaster might be the most brilliant spell caster of the last century, but even he hadn't been able to overpower Lord Voldemort in a duel. He had duelled Dumbledore before, and though he suspected the man hadn't been trying very hard to beat him, Harry had been able to do more then hold his own. With any luck, he'd be able to get in a few quick strikes and take down his opponent before Quirrell could do any damage to him.

Thankfully, Quirrell was no longer using Legilimency on Harry, so he never read these thoughts, as he was too busy trying to solve the mystery of the Mirror.

"I see the Stone… I'm presenting it to my master… but where is it?"

Harry's mind was once again running circles. _Snape had suspected Quirrell all along, Snape was trying to protect the stone from him, it was this master who had reduced Quirrell to a whimpering blob, but who was his master?_

He couldn't think about that though, he had to focus on getting the stone before Quirrell. He thought of how he wanted nothing more in the world, at that moment, then to find it before Quirrell. If he were able to look into the mirror, with that thought, then he would be able to find it! But how was he supposed to get in front of the mirror when he was under a full body bind.

Quirrell was oblivious to Harry at this point, too focused on the Mirror.

"What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"

To Harry's horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself.

"Use the boy… Use the boy…"

Quirrell rounded on Harry, releasing him from his bindings with a clap of his hands.

"Yes – Potter – come here. Look into the mirror and tell me what you see."

Seeing it as his only chance to get to the mirror, Harry walked towards him.

_I must lie, _he thought desperately. _I must look and lie about what I see, that's all._

Quirrell moved close behind him. Harry breathed in the funny smell that seemed to come from Quirrell's turban. He closed his eyes, stepped in front of the mirror and opened them again.

He saw his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at him. It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket – and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his real pocket. Somehow – incredibly – he'd gotten the Stone.

"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"

Harry raised his Occlumency shields to full strength.

"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invented. "I – I've won the house cup for Gryffindor."

Quirrell just cursed loudly at this and pushed Harry out of the way.

However before he could make a run for it, a high voice echoed through the chamber. "He lies… He lies…"

"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"

The high voice spoke again.

"Let me speak to him… face to face…"

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have enough strength for this… let me speak to the boy…"

Harry felt as if Devil's Snare was rooting him to the spot. He couldn't move a muscle. Petrified, he watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away, and he slowly turned on the spot.

Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk-white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"Harry Potter… we meet again."

* * *

Hermione was sprinting as fast as she could. She had left Neville and Susan at the Infirmary with Madame Pomphrey so that she could run for help. She was desperate to find a teacher, anyone who could help Harry. She was scared to death at the thought of what he must be facing down in the last chamber, and could only further her resolve to get him help.

She raced down the many hallways and staircases of the school, running past ghosts and even crashing into the odd statue. She could only imagine Filch running after all the commotion she was causing, but at that moment she didn't care. Her whole body was focused on only one goal: help Harry.

Sprinting down the last hallway, she quickly reached her destination, as she knocked anxiously on the door to the school staff room. It was with a grim thought that she only remembered the way to this door because Susan had been set on pulling some sort of prank. She really did hope that the strawberry blonde was ok, but her main focus right now was Harry - he was the one in danger, after all.

Her state of fear only grew however when she noticed who had opened the door.

Standing impatiently in front of her, was none other than Severus Snape.

_Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! _Thought Hermione.

"Are you going to tell me your reason for being here after curfew Ms. Granger, or are you just going to stand there like an idiot and waste my time." Sneered Snape.

"But… But… You're supposed to be after the stone… But that means… HARRY'S FACING VOLDEMORT!" said Hermione, beginning off in a panted stutter, before exclaiming the last point in a shout.

While maybe shouting the last phrase wasn't the smartest thing to do, it seemed to have the effect she had been hoping to get however, as Snape took off at a run towards the 3rd floor corridor.

* * *

"See what I have become?" said the face of Lord Voldemort as he fired another killing curse at the little boy. "Mere shadow and vapour… I have form only when I can share another's body… but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds… Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks… you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest… and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own… Now… why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?

"I'm never giving you this stone!" shouted Harry, diving out from underneath one of the stone pillars that Voldemort had just exploded. He sent a wave of reductos at the Professor, but the man managed to summon a pile of bricks in time to absorb the spells.

"Don't be a fool," snarled Voldemort. "Better to save your own life and join me, than to die… You could be great Harry… you have so much promise… all you need to learn is the lesson I taught Quirrell here earlier about how there is no good and evil, only power and those too weak to seek it… don't be one of those weaklings Harry… join me and I'll show you things beyond your wildest dreams…"

"NEVER!" shouted Harry, sending another wave of spells at Voldemort. "Look at what Quirrell's become since then, you've tortured him mercilessly. You're evil, and I'm going to stop you…"

Voldemort was now smiling at Harry, having deflected his attacks; he walked closer towards the boy who was glowing a faint golden white.

"How touching…" he hissed. "I always value bravery… your parents were quite brave too… I took the greatest pleasure in cursing them… but of course as we know, you had to go and bring them back… quite a feat of magic I may add… you would certainly do well at my side… Now give me the Stone, unless you want to die."

"You'll have to kill me, first!"

Harry flicked his wand sending a pack of transfigured wolves to attack Quirrell, all the while banishing the broken rocks and debris that covered the chamber at his former Professor, trying to buy himself time to escape back through the flames.

Voldemort however was too strong. With a scream he let out a shockwave that blasted away the flying stones, and sent the wolves sprawling into the far wall, where a few well-placed curses ended their existence.

"Very well then," said Voldemort, stepping forward to approach the boy that was lying on the stone steps before him. "Your death will mark the resurgence of Lord Voldemort. Never again will anyone doubt my powers, everyone shall bow down before the greatest wizard to walk this earth. I will have what I deserve!"

"The only thing you deserve is to die," spat Harry, sending another wave of cutting curses at his opponent, only for Voldemort to casually swat them away as he continued to approach him.

"tut, tut, tut," mocked Voldemort. "Is that really what you think of me Harry? That someone of my brilliance, should be condemned to live the same life as those that are so obviously inferior to him. Should I not be allowed to enjoy the benefits of my circumstance? The spoils that I worked so tirelessly for? Do you not think that you should use the power you were given for your own needs?"

"We are not gods. We live, we die, we are bound by the same limitations as every other mortal being on this planet. Pureblood or muggle, we're all human. No amount of magic can change that."

"Perhaps..." questioned Voldemort, now twirling his wand in his right hand as he continued to stare down at the boy in front of him. "But if what if I were to tell you that I am not... mortal?"

Harry hesitated. It was true that Voldemort should have died that night, and that nobody knew how he had survived. Seeing this shade of him attached to the back of Professor Quirrell's head was definitely terrifying, but if this was immortality, then it looked like Voldemort had definitely gotten the short end of the stick.

He even managed a weak chuckle at that thought, to which Voldemort's response was to put him under the cruciatus curse, causing him to writhe around on the floor.

The pain was almost unbearable. It felt like scorched knives were piercing every inch of his skin at once. However, right when he thought he would succumb to the darkness that threatened to engulf him, Voldemort lifted the curse.

"Still think this is funny, Potter?" sneered the Dark Lord.

Harry only just managed to push himself back up so that he was now on all fours. His body was exhausted and aching but he knew that he couldn't give up. Help would be on the way soon, he just had to hold out a little bit longer.

"Yes. Yes I do," said Harry, with conviction he didn't think he could possibly have possessed at that moment.

Voldemort just stared down at him, his wand once again twirling in his right hand. He looked like he wanted nothing more then to end his existence, but a part of him also wanted to hear what he had to say.

Taking his hesitation as the opportunity he needed to further delay his death, Harry continued speaking.

"I find it bloody hilarious how someone that proclaims to be as brilliant as you say you are, fails to see that his own ignorance will be his downfall."

"Oh? and how do you plan to stop me?" said Voldemort, lowering his wand so that it was once more pointed directly at Harry's forehead.

Harry was truly at a loss as to what to say now. His plan of angering Voldemort into doing something stupid seemed to have failed, so now he went to plan B. Just keep messing with him in the hope that he was able to confuse him long enough for backup to arrive.

"I don't," said Harry, reaching down to grab the stone that was still in his pocket and pulling it out.

Voldemort continued to stare down at him, as if he was trying to decipher if this was some sort of trap or not. Finally after nearly twenty seconds, he reached down and made a move to pluck the stone from the boy's outstretched hand.

Harry however, wrapped his fingers around the stone and pulled it back towards his body. "I don't have to defeat you. You've brought about your own defeat. You don't even realize but you've already set in motion the very scheme that will end you. You, who brags about your greatness, could have had all that and more had you used your brilliance to contribute to the good of society, but instead you became something that strives to eradicate everything we consider great in this world. You really should have read a little bit about history, maybe then you would know that tyrants never win."

If he had the ability, Voldemort would probably have been seething out the mouth after that statement he was so angry. Instead, he had to suffice with showing this little pest just how much he had to learn.

"Is that right?" sneered the Dark Lord before he cast another curse at the boy that made his skin boil.

Harry let out a horrible screech of pain before he was able to focus on his wandless magic long enough for him to undue whatever spell Voldemort had cast on him.

"You like that one Harry? Made that little hex myself while I was touring in Peru. It's quite useful for torturing people into revealing information. What do you think of this one?"

This time Harry felt his insides become so hot, it felt like they had been turned to acid and were burning him from the inside out. Again, he had to fight to focus on his wandless magic so that he could cancel the spell, the same golden glow that had protected him as a baby now doing the same.

At first he had thought that all he had to do was hold out against Voldemort long enough for reinforcements to arrive, but after those two curses, Harry wasn't sure he could take much longer of this torture. No, if he was going to survive and keep the stone away from Voldemort, he was going to have to find a way to escape.

When Voldemort raised his wand to prepare for the next curse, Harry quickly rolled to the side and cast his own spell using his holly and pheonix feather wand.

His spell wasn't a curse of any sort though, as he had already learned that Voldemort had no problem blocking or deflecting any of those. No, instead it was nothing more then a flashbang charm.

A very powerful flashbang charm.

So powerful that the light emitted from his wand was so blinding, that Quirrell actually had to take a step away as he shielded his eyes. Even Harry had to close his eyes for he couldn't see with the superpowered white light that had filled the room, but that didn't stop him from making a run in the direction where he thought the exit might be.

He would never know how, but despite the blinding light, the moment he sprang towards the flame door, Voldemort screamed, "Seize him!" and next second, Harry felt Quirrell's hand close on his wrist.

At once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Harry's scar; his head felt as though it was about to split in two; he yelled, struggling with all his might, and to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him.

The pain in his head lessened, though it was still enough of a distraction to lose focus on his flashbang charm, effectively ending the spell. He looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers – they were blistering before his eyes.

"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again and Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands around Harry's neck – Harry's scar was almost blinding him with pain, it was worse than the cruciatus, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony.

"Master I cannot hold him – my hands – my hands!"

And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms – Harry could see they looked burnt, raw, red and shiny.

"Then kill him, fool, and be done with it!" screeched Voldemort.

Quirrell raised his wand to cast the killing curse, but harry was too quick. With a flick of his hand, he sent a wandless expelliarmus at Quirrell, sending his wand scooting across the chamber, before he jumped on top of the man pushing his hands into his face.

"AAAAARGH!"

Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off – the pain in Harry's head was building – he couldn't see – he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!"

As he felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, he was vaguely aware that another figure was now crying his name and there was a shrilling song being played somewhere in the background, as he fell into blackness.

* * *

Dumbledore was currently more worried than he cared to remember. He knew Quirrell would be making a move for the stone tonight, and if his suspicions were correct Harry Potter would have gone after him.

He had been watching the boy all year. While he had an exceptional level of control over his magic, he still had a lot to learn, something that didn't bode well for him if Quirrell was to engage him in a duel.

The whole scene had taken years of planning. Not only did he have to design a specific obstacle course that would cater to the strengths of the four friends, but he also had to have the other Professors go along with it, and monitor Quirrell's movements all year long while maintaining an oblivious persona. Perhaps his true genius however was the subtle hints he had dropped in Hagrid's presence, knowing that the gamekeeper would undoubtedly reveal these secrets to Harry and his friends. When he had caught two of them examining the Mirror of Erised earlier on in the year, it had proven the perfect opportunity to explain to them how to both use the last obstacle protecting the stone, and to place a subtle tracking device on the boy's cloak. It might have taken an extreme amount of effort, but he was confident that he had been able to construct a ploy that would see Harry once again overcome Tom Riddle.

When he had received the obviously fake summoning to the Ministry of Magic, he knew that the moment had come.

However, in order for Quirrell to carry out his actions, Dumbledore had to be seen leaving the castle, and so here he was trying to fly a broomstick back from London. While he might have been a fairly decent flyer in his youth, it was certainly one of the talents that had deteriorated with his age.

As soon as he got the Patronus message from Snape, Dumbledore gave up on his flight and summoned Fawkes to take him back to the castle.

Apparently Harry had risen to the occasion as he had hoped for and had sought to head off Quirrell before he could get his hands on the stone.

He could only hope that the boy wasn't hurt for his efforts. The last thing he needed was to have the Wizarding community on his back for him failing to prevent serious harm to the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. The whole Ron Weasley, Norwegian Ridgeback disaster had been enough of a fiasco to land him with a mountain of paperwork and several howlers on behalf of irate parents. If anything was allowed to happen to Harry down in that chamber he would never be able to forgive himself, nor would he live to see another year as Headmaster of Hogwarts.

It seemed that once again, his fate was in the hands of Harry Potter.

* * *

**AN: I've been facing quite a lot of criticism in reviews recently about how close the storyline has been to canon, and quite frankly I don't know what to tell you. I realize the last few chapters are very similar to their canon counterparts but that's how I wanted to write the story. I get that a lot of you guys want to read something completely different from canon, but unfortunately that's not how I plan to right my story. I want to write something that follows the same plot line, but with my own unique twist. Now, this may not be what several of you want, and for that I sympathize. The next chapter will deviate quite a lot from its canon counterpart and I hope many of you can appreciate that, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on following canon. I'm simply changing things. **

**Anyways leave me a review and let me know what you think.**

**P.S. this is my first fan fiction so please and provide Constructive criticism instead of just bashing my writing. Also University finals are coming up so updates will be coming out at a slower rate. Sorry  
**


	27. A New Perspective

Harry could see something silver flickering above him.

He tried to reach up and grab it, but felt an immense pain burning through his right arm.

He heard someone telling him to take it easy and to not move, but he couldn't make it out.

He heard the same shrilling song he'd heard earlier being played in the background, and felt the pain start to diminish from his chest, neck and arms.

Nothing would have prepared him for what he saw when he finally did open his eyes.

Standing on his chest was a brilliant white phoenix with silver and pale blue feathers.

He was amazed. His mother had told him a little about phoenixes when he was younger, but other than learning Dumbledore had one as a familiar, he never would have expected to meet one.

_Hello little one. It is good to see you are safe. Please don't scare me like that again._

Harry just stared at the bird in amazement that was now looking at him with amusement.

"You… You can speak?"

_Of course I can speak to you… I am your familiar after all._

Harry's eyes went wide at this. "Hedwig?" he asked in a disbelieving tone of voice.

The bird let out a little shriek as it nodded its head.

"What happened to you?"

_I underwent my transformation Harry. I did so after you proved yourself to be of pure mind and soul… I was always a half-phoenix with the possibility of transforming, but I had to be bonded to a worthy wizard to do so… I knew that you were that person the moment I met you in Diagon Alley._

"How do you know all this?"

_I know of a great many things to which you do not... In time you will learn to appreciate the lessons of all animals, but for now it is important that we get you fully healed._

Harry could only nod his head as Hedwig cried onto the remaining burn marks on his body, allowing him to sit up and stroke the bird without too much discomfort. In fact, a part from feeling completely exhausted, he felt great...

"Is that phoenix yours, Potter?"

Harry turned his head to see the still figure of Severus Snape that was standing by the doorway of the chamber.

Harry didn't really know how much to tell the Professor, but Hedwig told him to be truthful and to accept the Professor.

Without a reason to do otherwise, and having complete faith in Hedwig, Harry did as he was advised.

"Yes Professor, she's my familiar Hedwig. Apparently she somehow underwent a transformation after I'd proven myself in my confrontation with Voldemort…"

Snape stayed quiet at this explanation, all the while looking at Harry with a glint in his usually cold eyes.

Neither figure said anything for a little while, before Harry thought it best to break the silence.

"Uhmm… Professor… I just wanted to… apologize Sir… You see I wrongfully accused you of being the one to go after the stone this year, but… It had never been you… In fact… You've done more this year to contain Quirrell than anyone… I… I thought you were the one that jinxed my broom during the Quidditch game, or let the troll in during Halloween… but I was wrong… I'm sorry I judged you Sir… and I hope we can begin off on a better footing next year…"

By the end of Harry's little speech, Snape was now looking at Harry with compassion dancing in his eyes. It seemed that he had finally made up his mind on how he should feel towards the boy.

"Part of the reason I did all that, was because I saw something precious in you… Something I hadn't seen in anyone since I was friends with your mother back in school…" He seemed to stop here to compose his thoughts, as he bent down to pick up the Philosophers Stone which was now lying deserted on the ground next to a pile of burning wood.

"You know, the world would be a lot better place, if you were to use this stone…"

Harry couldn't help but frown at this. "With all due respect Sir, I think the world would be a better place without this Stone. No one deserves to have that kind of power over people. I know I certainly wouldn't want it. Contrary to what some people think, I'm not some deity that is immune to the mistakes of man, I would surely be affected by greed just as much as any other man, the last thing I want is to become another Dark Lord."

"That's quite wise of you," said Professor Snape, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I doubt even your mother could've spoken with such wisdom at your age."

Harry squirmed a little bit at this, feeling a little uncomfortable around the topic.

"Sir If you don't mind, can I ask you a question?"

At Snape's nod, Harry steeled himself before asking the question his mother had refused to tell him. "What happened between you and my mother?"

Snape was quiet for a long time as he just stared down at Harry with a far off look on his face. He was beginning to think that maybe he shouldn't have asked the question, when the man bent down, dropping the stone into Harry's free hand as he sat down against the wall beside Harry.

"It's a long story… We were best friends growing up… But I ruined it… I let prejudice affect my actions, and I eventually lost her friendship… I've done many things in my life that I deeply regret Harry, but none of which compares to betraying her… It's the reason I switched sides during the war… You see, I wasn't always fighting for the light… I allowed myself to be corrupted and influenced my Voldemort and his followers… I joined them when I was in my 6th year at school… That year was the beginning of the end for me… I lost everything that year… But if there's one thing I learned during the war, it's that death changes people, and that people are capable of great change, but only if they truly want to… It was my regret at betraying your mother that led me to change…"

Harry couldn't say anything for a while; he just sat there staring at the far wall of the chamber as he patted the top of Hedwig's head.

A part of him didn't want to acknowledge that Snape had a history with his mother, nor did it want to accept Snape's repentance, but another part of him knew that the man had suffered through his own torment long enough. Snape's actions regarding Quirrell and the Stone were enough to prove to him that his allegiance lay with Dumbledore.

"I believe you… and I think my mom would too… I just think it would be best if we give her a little time to warm up to the idea before I introduce you to my family… Maybe give you and me some more time to get to know each other first."

For once, Snape didn't fight the smile that threatened to cross his facial features at that, choosing instead to help the boy to his feet.

Hedwig didn't seem too happy about the prospect of having to move from her perch on Harry's left knee, but when Harry did clamber to his feet, she didn't hesitate to jump off him and flame away.

Harry watched her go, amazed that she could simply burst into flames as a means of travel.

"So what actually happened down here in the chamber with Quirrell?" asked Snape, turning to observe the damage surrounding the chamber. There were shattered pillars, holes in the wall, small fires scattered across the floor, and broken bits of glass, rock, and wood everywhere.

It was now Harry's turn to stare off into the distance with a far off look on his face, as he slumped back down against the wall.

"I… I killed him… I had to fight him… he was… he was… 'hosting' Voldemort… apparently he's been living under his turban all year, and I never noticed…"

Snape turned back around to face the boy that was standing in front of him, truly noticing for the first time how much life had put him through at such a young age. Many would consider his talents to be a remarkable gift, but to him, they were a burden. A constant reminder of the looming responsibility he had that he never wanted. Such was the fate of the child of prophecy. For the first time that he had known him, Snape actually allowed himself to feel sad for the young boy.

"War can do horrible things to a man, Harry. It brings out the worst in all of us, but you should know, that as long as you hold the compassion and well-being of others as highly as you do your own, you aren't at risk of losing your morality. It's ok that you feel regret Harry, in fact it's a good thing… it means that you wish you could have acted otherwise… and act that proves you never intended to kill."

Harry didn't answer. He just stared down at the blood-red stone in his right hand that had been the reason for all this fighting. Sighing to himself at the thought of what he was going to do, Harry used his control over the fire elemental to incinerate the stone, all the while holding it in his flaming hand.

If Snape wanted to say something at this action, he held his mouth, deciding it better not to ask questions of the boy, realizing he had just done what should have been done years ago.

It was quite a while before either man spoke.

"You know when we walk through that door, we have to go back to the way things were before. No one can know about our new relationship. If it were ever to get out that I am a double agent working for Dumbledore, I would be a dead man. You can't tell anyone about this except for the Headmaster… you can tell your three friends when we tell your family, but for now this will have to remain are little secret."

Harry just nodded his head once in agreement. He couldn't believe that in the span of an hour, he had gone from being prepared to kill Severus Snape, to now embracing him as a mentor.

But, as Harry thought about it, with the prospect of fighting a deranged Dark Lord, he could certainly use all the help he could get.

* * *

When Snape and Harry finally emerged from the trap door, Snape was levitating the unconscious form of Harry Potter on a conjured stretcher as he led him to the Hospital Wing.

It seemed that the Granger girl had worked herself in a state of panic worrying about him, as she immediately came rushing forward as soon as she caught sight of them.

Her questions went unanswered however, as Harry was now passed out from magical exhaustion (the phoenix tears healed his injuries, but the strain his efforts had on his magical core was still prevalent, duelling with the Dark Lord for 15 minutes or so, tends to tire you out). Snape didn't pay her much attention; he was only concerned about getting the boy treated so he could excuse himself for the night. After all he had to maintain the passive image of despising the boy, so why should he appear to care about the lad's well-being.

Walking out of the hospital ward, he stole one last glance back at the boy who was lying in bed with his friend holding his hand. He actually allowed himself to smile at the sight. He knew it was going to be difficult maintaining the persona that he hated the boy, but was grateful for the fact that he still had plenty of people who cared about him, he didn't need solace in the form of a stony Potions Mater.

But as Snape walled back to the cold loneliness of his private quarters, he was increasingly aware of how much he needed the boy for his own peace of mind.

* * *

Susan and Neville were both released from the hospital wing the next day but Harry still hadn't woken up. What surprised them however was the great cheer they received from the Gryffindor table the moment they walked into the Great Hall, for lunch, and even a round of polite applause from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

Apparently that morning, Headmaster Dumbledore had given a speech at breakfast, announcing the four friends as heroes and awarding them two hundred house points for their determination, cool use of intellect, and outstanding courage.

Even Ron Weasley had received his moment in the spotlight, as he too was awarded ten house points for showing true Gryffindor courage in standing up, not to one's enemies, but to one's friends.

The three friends of course thought Dumbledore had to be living under a rock the whole year if he thought they were friends with the youngest red-head, but Ron on the other hand was happily playing up his part as if he was some hero for trying to save them from an early death.

The group of first years were once again elevated to Gryffindor's most talked about students, as kids of every year, began bombarding them with questions.

It seemed the predominant one, and the only one that mattered really, was what had happened to Harry Potter.

Neither of the three had been told the extent of Harry's injuries, or what had happened down in the chamber, but considering the circumstances they decided it best to send a letter to the parents. They had even asked Professor Dumbledore to attach a portkey so that they would be allowed to travel to the castle after they'd read the letter.

They never would have expected however, when they walked up the steps to the owlery that afternoon, that when they called out Hedwig's name, to see a large white phoenix glide down to them instead of the usual snowy owl.

They just stared at it like idiots for a while.

"Hedwig?" gasped Hermione, as she patted the brilliant bird.

The bird just nodded its head a few times and stuck out its left leg, waiting for the kids to attack their letter.

"Can you take this to our parents, please Hedwig," said Hermione as Neville tied the letter onto the bird's outstretched leg.

They didn't even have to wait for a response. As Neville finished tying the letter, the great bird flared up and vanished in a ball of silver flames.

None of the friends could believe it. Somehow, Harry's trusted snowy owl familiar, had grown into a marvellous silver and white phoenix. Now they were really desperate to learn what had transpired down in the chamber, as they were pretty sure something big must have happened, birds don't just change forms on their own, right?

* * *

Emma Granger was busying herself making tea for the ladies in the kitchen. She was over at the Manor, having just finished her shift at work, and had gladly taken Lily up on her offer to join them for an afternoon drink.

She really enjoyed the company of the crowd of witches, and spent many of her afternoons with them, rarely ever visiting her own house, as it was so lonely now that Hermione was gone. At least here she could help baby-sit the other little children.

Sighing to herself as she poured the milk, she once again cursed the fates for their cruelty at not allowing her to have another baby. She and Dan had tried several times, but each time she had a miscarriage, and was told that it wouldn't be possible. After being informed that another child would be a serious threat to her health, they resolved to stick with what they had, instead of risking everything on the chance of another child. It only made Hermione even more special to them, part of the reason she was so scared at the thought of losing her to the magical world.

For that, she was extremely grateful of her friends. They had shown her the customs of the wizarding world, and had even explained the many careers Hermione could pursue that would keep her grounded in the muggle world when she was older.

Pouring the sugar into the last cup, she gathered up the tray and turned to walk out the door, when a large ball of silver flame flared up on the kitchen table, as a great white bird appeared out of no-where.

She nearly had a heart attack, as she dropped the tray and screamed out at the top of her lungs.

Her friends bolted through the doorway to see what had scared her, and were greeted with the sight of a phoenix standing on the back of one of the kitchen table chairs, looking up at them in amusement.

"That's a phoenix," gasped Alice.

"But what's it doing with a letter attached to its leg?" asked Lily.

"Perhaps it's bonded to a wizard or witch, and is here to deliver us a letter like any other familiar would." Explained Amelia, as she bent down to untie the letter from the birds outstretched leg, giving its head a good scratching as she did so.

Offering one of Hedwig's owl treats to the bird, she opened the letter and began to read it out-loud.

Dear Family,

_It's Hermione here. We have a long story to tell you guys that you probably won't be too happy to hear, the legist of it being that Harry is unconscious in the hospital wing, so we need you all to come to the school to hear it. _

_ When you're ready to go, simply tap your wand to this letter and say the word 'PHILOSOPHER'_ _it should take you all to the schools hospital wing._

_Seeing you soon,_

_Hermione, Neville & Susan._

"I'll Floo call Frank and get him here right away," said Alice, hurrying over to the fireplace.

Amelia went outside to gather up the Marauders who were enjoying the afternoon weather; Sirius and James were out flying while Remus was reading a book under the big oak tree.

Lily just stood there frozen like a statue at she stared at the letter the children had written them. The only thought passing through her brain was that Harry was unconscious in the school's hospital wing.

* * *

Harry slept for two days before he finally woke up, two days that his family and friends spent the entirety of by his side, taking turns holding his hands and making silent pleas for him to wake up.

The parents had been told by the kids about how Susan and Harry had met Voldemort that evening they went into the Forbidden Forest to serve their punishment, how they had learned that he was going to try to steal the Philosopher Stone the evening Dumbledore left the castle, and how they had gone down the trap door to stop him.

The parents never felt more helpless in their life, the children had willingly faced unspeakable danger, and they hadn't even known about it.

What really made them feel sick to their stomach, was the kid's stance that like-it-or-not this was their war to fight, they weren't just going to stand back and do nothing, and the parents couldn't shelter them from the reality of the world.

By the time Harry had finally begun to stir, all of the parents were in tears as they embraced their child.

"Harry! How do you feel?" asked Lily quickly, desperate to hear from her son.

"I'm okay mum, honest, Hedwig healed my injuries already… I was just tired."

"So that bird really was Hedwig then? What happened to her?" asked Alice in amazement.

"Yea, Hedwig said she underwent some sort of transformation after what I'd done in the chamber, I still really don't understand the whole thing, I'll have to talk to her later and find out more about it."

"Bloody hell, you get knocked out by a stone statue and you miss everything," muttered Susan under her breath, getting a small chuckle from the other kids.

The parents however were paying no attention to their antics, too concerned about Harry's well being.

"Harry… What happened? Down in the chamber…" asked a clearly nervous James, who was now holding onto his son's hand as his mother wrapped him in her arms and stroked his hair lovingly.

"Well it's kind of a long story… but in summary it wasn't Snape after the Stone… it was Quirrell."

The other three kids went wide-eyed at this, seemingly unable to believe that Quirrell had been the one to go after the stone, and not Snape.

"Yea, apparently he's been hosting Voldemort under his turban the whole year, and no-one was the wiser."

The family was now staring at Harry in disbelief, grief, and regret as they listened to his description of what he had been through down in the chamber, starting with the Mirror, duelling Voldemort, killing Quirrell and destroying the stone. (He left out the discussion he had with Snape, saving that bombshell for a later time)

"I killed someone… I took someone's life down in that chamber… Three, if you count the Flamels… I'd never felt so sick to my stomach in my life… If it wasn't for Hedwig's soothing songs I swear I could've just keeled over in remorse right then and there."

"Harry you did what you had to do," said James. "You fought against evil, and did what you could to defend yourself, none of us think any lesser of you because of it. We've all been in a similar situation, and we've all felt that awful feeling after we'd been forced to do the same."

"You… You've killed a man too?" asked Harry, as he turned to look up into his father's shining eyes.

"Yes… but I want you to listen to me very closely Harry. You didn't kill Quirrell. He killed himself. He gave up every last bit of freedom and morality he had when he consented to join Voldemort. You didn't kill a man Harry, he was already dead inside."

"I… I think I need some rest… you don't mind giving me few hours to sleep on my thoughts do you?"

"Not at all dear. Take all the time in the world. Just know that we're here whenever you need us," said Lily.

"Not too long though," joked Sirius. "You've got the Quidditch cup game tomorrow after lunch."

"Sirius!" screamed Lily, throwing the tableside lamp at the fool to get him to shut up. "Harry you don't need to play if you don't feel up to it…"

Harry gave his mom a look that clearly said that wasn't going to happen, before backing it up in words, "Are you kidding? Voldemort couldn't stop me from playing in that game!"

There was a mixture of groans and grins between the family as those who loved Quidditch let out a few whoops of delight, while those who hated the dangerous game worried themselves with another potential injury.

"I'll go tell Wood now Harry," said Neville as he turned to leave. "The guy's been trying to get in here ever since the school got word of what happened… Dumbledore awarded us 200 points for our bravery and now we're only a hundred points back from Slytherin of the house cup… The game against Ravenclaw is going to be a winner take all showdown and he's desperate to hear that his star seeker will be able to play."

Harry just grinned as Madam Pomphrey came by to kick everyone out so he could get some rest.

* * *

Something gold was glinting just above him. The Snitch! He tried to catch it, but his arms were too heavy. He got a strange feeling that he had done this before.

He blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. He blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above him.

"Good evening, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I must say you had us all quite worried about you… As you can imagine I was ever so relieved when Miss Granger informed me that you'd woken up. I feel that I must ask for your forgiveness Harry, I put you in terrible danger this year, and all because I was more inclined to protect a powerful artefact than the lives of my students."

"Well it's over now right," said Harry trying to sit up in his uncomfortable hospital bed, only to notice that the table at the end of the bed was suddenly covered in gifts.

"Ah yes, about that," said Dumbledore, picking up one of the boxes of Bertie Blotts Every Flavour Beans and examining it. "You seemed to have acquired several tokens from your friends and admirers."

Seeing Harry's confused look, he hastened to explain further. "What happened between you and Professor Quirrell down in the chamber was a complete secret. So, naturally the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley are the ones responsible for sending you the toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you," said the Headmaster, smiling down at his young charge that he had already come to respect as a remarkable young man.

Harry just grinned as he reached out to grab one of the chocolate frogs, biting its head off and flipping over the card to reveal a picture of himself. He nearly choked on the piece of chocolate that was still in his mouth, as he watched himself smile up at him.

"Are you alright Harry?" questioned the old man as he looked down at him worriedly, though if it was because of what he had just been through or if it was because he was nearly choking, Harry wasn't sure.

"I'm fine Sir, just tired. I wasn't hurt or anything… just resting."

"Yes. Well, phoenix tears do have that affect. They can heal one's injuries but they can't relieve the stress or exertion on one's magical core."

"Do you know how it happened Professor? How Hedwig transformed into a phoenix?"

"Yes and no… What I do know is that Hedwig must've had to possess the capability to transform, and that she must've been bonded to a wizard who demonstrates such qualities as to be deemed worthy of a phoenix. As to how she actually underwent the transformation… that is another mystery. I can only speculate that she may never have been the snowy owl she claimed to be."

Harry just nodded his head at this explanation, as it was nothing Hedwig hadn't already told him.

"Sir. Did you have a chance to speak to Professor Snape at all, since that night?"

"I have my dear boy… And may I say, I am quite pleased to hear of the new relationship between the two of you. I could never had imagined such an event transpiring, but it will be a great benefit to us… You will need all the help you can get in the coming years of your life, and Snape will be a great resource in that regard."

Harry stayed quiet for a moment after this, thinking of his next question.

"Sir. How did Snape switch sides? He told me that he became a spy for you near the end of the war, but he never told me what caused the switch other than it had something to do with betraying my mother."

Dumbledore lost the twinkle in his eye at this question, as his face visibly darkened for a moment, as he appeared to age 50 years in the span of 5 seconds.

"Your parents have told you there was a prophecy about you, I presume?"

At Harry's nod he continued.

"Sybil Trelawney was the one who gave me that prophecy many years ago, during an interview for the open position of Divination teacher. Unfortunately Snape overheard the first part of the prophecy saying that a baby born at the end of July would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord and relayed that information to Voldemort. He never knew that your mother was pregnant with the child of the prophecy, and unknowingly sentenced her to death. When he finally discovered that the targeted family was the Potters, and that his precious Lily was the mother of the child, he lost everything. He gave up the dark mark and has served as my loyal spy ever since, bound by the grief and regret of betraying the only person he ever loved."

Harry didn't know how to take this. His mind was running off in different directions. _Snape had loved his mother? Trelawney was the one that gave Dumbledore the prophecy about him? Snape had been the one that sent Voldemort after them?_

He couldn't speak, he just sat there, unable to comprehend the complications of Dumbledore's statement, until finally, the old man called Pomphrey and asked for a calming potion to give to Harry.

After taking a swig of the potion, Harry began to settle down, but he still had one more question he wanted answered before he drifted back to sleep.

"Sir. Can you tell me the official wording of the prophecy? My parents don't know the actual thing other than it says that I have the power to defeat the Dark Lord."

Dumbledore seemed to regard him for quite a long time, debating if he was ready to hear of such a burden, before he finally drew his wand to his temple and pulled out a long silvery strand of fluid.

The memory hung in the air, before Dumbledore cast a spell, projecting an image of a younger Sybil Trelawney standing over Professor Dumbledore.

_The one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…_

"I know this is a grave burden to be placed on your shoulders Harry. But you will have people to help you every step of the way. You mustn't allow this to rule your life, and you shouldn't close yourself off from others to prepare. In time these things will sort themselves out, and in the meantime you have a loving family to support you."

Harry just gave a small smile at what Dumbledore had said, before another though crossed his mind. "Sir. What exactly is this power I have that the Dark Lord knows not? I thought it would have been my control of elementals but that didn't seem to stop Quirrell down in the chamber."

"Indeed your control of elementals is quite unique and admirable, but Voldemort has ways of defending against them. No, I believe the power you have that he can't understand is love, Harry. It was the love of your parents, and there willing sacrifice that allowed you to live on that Halloween night so many years ago, and it was that love that meant Quirrell couldn't touch you. Harry, you are marked by love and for something as evil as Voldemort it was agony to come into contact with something so pure and good."

Harry didn't really think this reason made much sense, but then again it did at least offer an explanation as to why Quirrell couldn't touch him down in the chamber.

"I just have one last question left, Professor," said Harry shyly, waiting for Dumbledore to nod before he continued. "How long did you plan this for?" asked Harry with a triumphant smirk on his face. "Letting Quirrell work here all year long. Guarding the stone in school full of children behind a door that could be unlocked by a simple _alohomora_. Conveniently explaining to me how to work the mirror of Erised before it was moved down into the chamber so I'd know how to work it the next time I saw it. You even had the teachers put up protections that a handful of first years could get by."

The look of surprise on Dumbledore's face was priceless, until he too started chuckling. "Very long actually Harry, I had to construct a plan to test you're mettle and laying the foundation was not easy. Looking back at it, there are quite a few things I would've done differently, preferably not endangering the lives of three hundred students in the process. I will say though, that you passed with flying colours, and that you have demonstrated numerous qualities that will one day make you the perfect champion of the light. The fact that you actually figured it out leaves me to believe that our future is in good hands."

It was now Harry's turn to smile. "Can I expect more tests like this in the future?"

Dumbledore now had the twinkle back in his eye as he patted Harry on the back and answered, "Most likely yes, but probably not from me. It is my hope that next time we will be able to organize such a plan together instead of trying to pull one over the other. I have no intentions of creating such a scheme again. Such a game will no doubt only serve against us in the future. This was simply a test to prepare you for when there is real danger at hand."

Harry could only chuckle, as any further questions went un-asked as Professor Dumbledore excused himself for the night, taking the box of beans with him.

As Harry settled back into his bed to once again see if he could fall asleep, he had to stifle his laugh as he heard the Headmaster complaining about having the misfortune to taste a vomit flavour bean.

* * *

The next day was one of the most memorable in Harry's lifetime. As he walked out of the Hospital Wing after being meticulously fussed over by the school healer, he could hardly take 4 steps before he was grabbed by the Weasley Twins and hoisted over their heads.

The reception the three got in Gryffindor was deafening. Everyone in Gryffindor was there to cheer Harry for his return. Apparently the Weasley Twins had smuggled in a crate of butter beers from Hogsmeade, but judging by the large stack of crates beside the cake, Harry suspected that the Marauders (mainly Sirius) must have had a hand in it too.

Despite the short life of the party, he still managed to receive congratulations and apologies from every Gryffindor, before his family took him outside for another quiet talk.

Even then they were cut short on their family moment however, when Oliver Wood showed up and all but demanded that Harry come with him to get ready for the big game.

* * *

As the parents piled in with the children into the top row of the Gryffindor section in the Quidditch stands, Harry was down in the dressing room getting the details on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"Okay men –" began Oliver Wood.

"- and woman" shouted Angelina, as she high-fived with Katie and Alicia.

"Right, boys and girls, this is it, the game we've been preparing for all year," said Oliver Wood. "We're playing for both the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup today, and we've got a whole army of fans to cheer us on for this game, so let's make it one to remember."

As the 7 teammates broke out of their huddle, Oliver took Harry aside for a quick talk.

"Look Harry, I don't know if you've seen Ravenclaw play or not but they're good, real good. They haven't lost a game in over 3 years. Three of their players, Jones – chaser, Adams – chaser, and Edwards – seeker, have all already signed on with professional Quidditch clubs for next year after their graduation, and their other chaser – Davies, is no slouch either."

Harry just gave him a look that clearly said get to the point Oliver.

"Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that we're really going to need you to have the game of your life out there today, because they've got us outclassed at just about every position."

Harry didn't respond, he just grabbed his broom, gave Wood a quick nod and walked out onto the pitch to join his other teammates.

It was easy to see from first sight that this was easily the largest crowd they'd had all year. The stands were packed with everyone from students & children to Ministry officials & adults wanting to see the highly anticipated game between what people were calling the invincible Claws and the Gryffindor dream team, led by an undefeated first year Harry Potter.

Harry could hardly hear Madam Hooch's opening words under the thunderous roar of the crowd, but seeing 14 others mount their brooms and rocket upwards seemed like the signal that the game was underway.

* * *

Wood hadn't been lying. Ravenclaw was amazing!

After an hour of play the score was 190-80 and neither team's seeker had caught sight of the snitch.

Harry was beginning to get desperate. He knew his team couldn't stay within the 150 range of the powerhouse Claws for much longer, and were relying on him to catch the snitch soon.

Without a sighting though there wasn't much he could do other than circle the stadium looking for it. Unless…

Pulling into a dive, Harry took off towards the ground underneath the Gryffindor goalposts as fast as he could.

His plan seemed to work, as the crowd grew silent to watch in anticipation. He could hear the hope in Lee Jordan's voice as he announced that Harry Potter had pulled into a dive, as well as the swishing noise coming from Jonathan Edwards, the Ravenclaw seeker that was trying desperately to catch up to him.

Down, and down they dove, faster and faster, until mere feet before the ground, Harry pulled up on his broom hard. It was a close shave, but Harry had been able to pull off the wronski feint perfectly, escaping his own collision, as Edwards crashed into the ground behind him.

Hearing the thunderous cheers from the Gryffindor section, the groans from the Ravenclaws, and the loud whoops of admiration coming from Oliver Wood above him, Harry took off towards the centre of the pitch to begin his look for the elusive gold ball.

It was then, when he saw it for the first time all match, hovering only 50 feet in front of him, was the golden Snitch.

He tightened his grip on his broom, crouched lower to increase his speed and shot forward as if he had been fired out of a cannon.

When he was only 10 feet from the Snitch however the thing took a sharp turn and began to rocket skywards. Harry followed closely behind.

All playing had come to a stop as the entire stadium watched, mesmerized as Harry Potter rocketed upwards after the Snitch, with the Ravenclaw seeker, still picking up his jock-strap on the ground.

Up he went. 200 feet, 300 feet, 400 feet.

He was just a mere red & gold speck against the clear blue sky when he finally stopped his ascent.

Pulling into a stop 500 feet above the crowd, Harry looked at the Golden Snitch that was now clasped firmly in his right hand.

Screaming in joy, Harry dove down towards the pitch, his right arm raised high above his head with the Snitch in his hand, marking Gryffindor's victory, 240 – 220.

Harry wasn't even allowed to get within 150 feet of the ground before his teammates swarmed him for a mid-air celebration. Wood was crying hysterically, doing loop-to-loops of pure joy while the Weasley Twins were dancing on top of their broomsticks, as the Gryffindor foxes: Angelina, Alicia and Katie attacked Harry with kisses.

Down in the stands below James, Sirius and Frank were also crying with pride, as everyone else besides Hermione and Lily were screaming their lungs out.

"I really hate this dangerous game," muttered Hermione, so only Lily could hear. "Almost killed himself with that dive, just about gave me a heart attack, and now he's being congratulated by his three female teammates."

"That's just the way Potter men, are I'm afraid, don't even realize the danger they get themselves into, just leave the woman to worry about their health as they waltz on ahead without a care in the world." Said Lily fondly as she patted the little girl on the back. She couldn't help thinking how much Hermione and Harry reminded her of a younger version of James and herself (without the immaturity on James part of course). She really was hoping that Emma's prediction of the two kids having a romantic future with each other did come true, as personally she couldn't think of anyone better for Harry then the little girl who clearly held him so dearly to her. The only problem was that thanks to the whole boy-who-lived rubbish, Harry was going to grow up with hundreds of witches falling over themselves to get a chance with him, and judging by the crowd's reaction to his Quidditch success, that number was sure to increase. She could only hope that Hermione didn't let her insecurities get the best of her and count herself out before the two of them even got a chance. But as James had clearly put it, she should stick to enjoying the last few years without having to deal with the anxiety of raising a hormonal teenager. Judging by the sight of the enormous smile that was on Harry's face as he hoisted the Quidditch Cup above his head, there would be plenty of childhood memories to last her until that boat came.

Neither woman noticed the smirk plastered across Susan's face after witnessing their intimate discussion over Potter males.

* * *

The Hogwarts Express didn't leave for another three days after the Quidditch game, and Harry and his family couldn't go anywhere without receiving congratulations from various people. Harry had even been approached by 4 professional Quidditch teams who would be interested in signing the young star when he reaches his majority, at the age of 17. It seemed that they couldn't go anywhere without being cheered as Gryffindors crowded around them to applaud their hero, Harry Potter, who had ended their 10 year House Cup drought.

At first, the cheering was all in good fun, and the kids would even exchange high fives with the other students, but when it didn't quiet down by the second day, the family had to retire to the large private room Dumbledore had provided them for some peace and quiet during their stay.

After much discussion, the parents relented allowing the kids to accompany the rest of the students on the Hogwarts Express to Kings Cross station the next day, while they took a port-key back to the Manor, thus giving the four first years the opportunity to attend the end of year feast. After all, Harry still had to uphold his part of the bet by asking Professor McGonagall to dance.

Hermione and Susan thought Neville and Harry were acting a little weird throughout the whole feast, but they just passed it off as the boy's excitement for the summer holidays. Imagine their surprise when Harry got out of his seat and went to speak with both McGonagall and Dumbledore up at the high table.

Initially they hadn't a clue as to what was going on, but when Dumbledore stood up and waved his wand for music to begin playing, they knew something big was coming. Judging by the victorious smirk on Neville's face, the two girls knew their other friend knew what was going to happen.

Then, before the eyes of the whole hall, Harry Potter and Professor McGonagall began dancing together. This wasn't just any type of dancing either, no the two were actually alternating between the waltz and the tango.

A few students laughed, while others cheered, and still Harry and McGonagall continued to parade up and down the aisles, seemingly undisturbed by anything else around them. If was as if the two had already accepted that they would be dancing together and were simply going along with it for good fun, instead of letting this embarrass them.

Even more surprising was that Harry was actually good! McGonagall was still the lead of course, but it was apparent to the two witches that Harry must have actually practiced for this.

Hermione and Susan were so shocked, they just sat their with their jaws hanging the whole time, both thinking along the same lines. _Okay something's seriously wrong with Harry, he would never be comfortable doing something to draw so much attention to himself like this._

It wasn't until the two began to slow dance did the two young Gryffindors, now the only members of their house not chanting their approval or roaring in laughter, round on their other best friend for some answers.

Neville just grinned at them. "Enjoy it while it last girls, this is our reward for having to put up with Harry trying to endorse Ron Weasley."

Hermione and Susan just stared at him, their minds furiously trying to figure out what this had to do with Ron.

"Uh Neville," said Hermione, still watching Harry and McGonagall dance at the front of the hall. "You guys didn't bet that we'd become friends with Ron did you?"

Neville just looked at her, before he started laughing all over again. "Hermione, not even Harry is stupid enough to accept that bet. No, we bet on whether or not Harry could turn Ron into a civil human being."

Hermione and Susan just looked at each other, before turning to look down the table at Ron, then back at Harry and McGonagall dancing, before muttering something about boys under their breath.

"And what would have happened if, heaven forbid, Harry had won that bet?" asked Susan.

Neville wouldn't answer, though for some reason his cheeks went slightly pink.

Hermione and Susan were left more confused then ever about their two best friends strange behaviour. They had thought that the boys were pretty simple to read, but this little experiment had shown them that they were anything but.

_Whose genius idea was it to befriend Ron Weasley, and why would Harry even take that bet in the first place? What could have possibly lead him to believe that he could actually turn that... that git, into a civil human being? Did he give up on purpose so that he could save Neville the embarrassment of living up to his part of the deal? Why weren't they angrier at the two of them for subjecting them to Ron Weasley all in the name of some stupid bet?_

These were just some of the questions that raced through the mind of Hermione Granger as she watched her best friend dance with her Professor. He looked so at peace with himself at that moment as he flashed her a smile from across the room. Although she would never admit it, there was one question that was bothering her more than anything else.

_Why couldn't that be me he's dancing with?_


	28. Home for the Holidays

"You ready, Harry?" asked Neville Longbottom, walking out of the 1st year boys Gryffindor dormitory pulling his large trunk behind him.

"Yeah, I'm all packed. Are we meeting the girls here, or down by the station?"

"Well you know them, Hermione's probably down on the platform already, helping McGonagall keep everyone on schedule, while Susan is probably still sleeping, and hasn't packed yet."

"Hey! I resent that Longbottom!" said Susan in mock astonishment. "I finished my packing two days ago, I'll have you know, and to answer your question Harry, you'll meet us back here in an hour. Why don't you boys go enjoy breakfast or something, we've got a couple last minute things we have to take care of before we're ready to go."

"Oh like what?" said Harry, shooting his friend an innocent grin.

"None of your business, Potter, its girl stuff, just make yourself useful and save us a seat on the Express." Susan said, as she skipped out of the portrait hole, the door slamming closed behind her, ending the discussion.

"Girls," muttered Neville. "I'll never understand them…"

"Me neither," agreed Harry.

"So are we heading down to breakfast or what?" questioned Neville.

"Ah you go ahead, I'm still full from the leaving feast last night. Can you do me a huge favour though and save us those seats on the Hogwarts Express? I've got one last thing I really need to take care of before we go."

Neville was confused at first as to what Harry was talking about, but thought better of asking about it. Of course he wouldn't mind saving him and the girls a seat. What were best friends for?

"Sure Harry no problem," responded the other boy as he slapped his best mate on the back before exiting the portrait hole and making his way down to the Great Hall.

Harry watched him go before running back up to the 1st year boy's dormitory to retrieve something from his trunk. He had something that didn't belong to him and it was about time he returned it.

* * *

Susan found Hermione waiting in the transfiguration classroom as she had previously arranged. Judging from the look on her face though, Hermione had grown impatient about being told to wait around in an empty classroom, instead of boarding the train early. She always preferred to be prepared, and hated being in any situation where she didn't know what was going on. Laughing to herself at that thought, Susan closed the door behind them and put up a silencing and a detection charm like Harry had shown her.

The fact that she was casting secrecy spells at the door seemed to have piqued Hermione's interest and the older witch couldn't help but asking, "Okay Susan, you're going to tell me what we're doing here right now or someone's not getting a birthday present next January."

"Calm down Hermione," said Susan nonchalantly. "I only asked you to come here because I have something private I wanted to ask you."

"Oh." Said Hermione, quickly losing the edge in her tone of voice and replacing it with one a lot more sincere as she replied with, "Well what is it, it's not bad or anything? Do we need to go get help?"

"No it's nothing like that Hermione," laughed Susan, refraining from adding the afterthought of _well if this doesn't go well I might need to visit the nurse._ "I just wanted to ask you when you were going to tell me how you feel about Harry, I couldn't help but overhear our discussion with Aunt Lily during the Quidditch final. Plus that frown on your face when his teammates kissed him could've been seen all the way in the Ravenclaw section."

"One might even say that you like him. You know like-like," finished Susan as she wiggled her eyebrows with a wicked smirk on her face.

Hermione could only stare at her friend, completely caught off guard by what she had just said. _Did she feel anything for Harry beyond friendship? When they were splitting up in the chamber she had wanted to hold onto him and never let go, and when she had seen him dancing in the Great Hall she had wondered what it would feel like to be the one up there with him, but that was just what best friends did right? What would it even mean to think of Harry that way?_ Not knowing anything about these feelings, and being sure that Susan didn't know much either, Hermione made the logical decision to dismiss that ridiculous thought.

"Really Susan, we're 12 years old and you think we're going to get married because we look out for each other? I thought you were above Lavender and Parvarti's annoying romance gossip, but I guess I was wrong," sighed Hermione.

"But you'd be perfect for each other – you keep him out of trouble, he goes out of his way for you, and even Hagrid agrees that you're like a younger version of James and Lily when they started dating!"

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Look I'm not going to stay here and argue with you, Harry and I are not a thing okay? We're just really good friends that care for each other like a brother and sister. Now, if you're done embarrassing yourself we have a train to catch."

Susan just grinned as she watched her friend walk out the door. _Oh she is so in denial, _thought the strawberry blonde.

* * *

"Uh Professor… can I have a word?" said Harry shyly, pushing open the door to Snape's classroom to find that the man was standing over a bubbling cauldron with his back towards him.

Snape didn't look at him, evidently too caught up in his work to realize anyone was at the door.

"Sir?"

Snape's shoulders just sagged, though he still didn't turn around. "If you've come to complain about your failing O.W.L grade might I suggest actually studying for your exams next time instead of simply complaining to the teacher in the hope that he'll take pity on you and boost your mark?"

Harry didn't know what to say at that comment. A part of him thought that he'd be better having this conversation with the man at another time, he was clearly too busy at the moment to care who was at his door, but when he thought about it, he realized this was the only time to have this conversation before school ended for summer holidays.

"Actually Sir I've come to return something of yours."

Snape's body went rigid, before he reached for his wand and spun around so fast, Harry only just had time to raise his shield to defend himself.

As it turned out though, the spell Snape had fired was not an offensive one, it merely locked and silenced the door.

Harry let his shield fall after seeing that, a little embarrassed that he thought the Professor would attack him. _So much for showing him that I trust him, _thought Harry.

Snape however, was quite pleased with the boy's reaction. Not only did it show that he hadn't let his guard down, but it exemplified his magical talent. To be able to raise such an impenetrable shield at the tender age of 11 is one thing, but to be able to do it wandlessly and silently is another thing entirely. It was just yet another reminder that the boy was the one that could defeat the Dark Lord.

Harry was beginning to grow uncomfortable with the way Snape was looking at him so in order to move the visit along, Harry reached into his pocket and brought out the small notepad and held it out for the Potions Master to take.

Upon seeing it, Snape's eyes widened, but he made no movement to take back what was his.

"So it was you who stole it," drawled Snape. "Why I didn't suspect the son of James Potter from the beginning…" but Harry cut him off before he could finish.

"This had nothing to do with my father, I stole it because at the time I thought you were going after the stone, and this notepad would be able to help me discover more about you. Once I found out that I was wrong, well, I decided to return it."

Snape didn't move, instead he continued to stare into Harry's eyes, trying to gauge the boy for any sign that he was lying without using Legilimency. He knew he could probably blast through the boys mental defences, but that would still alert him to his presence, and he couldn't afford to lose the boys trust at this moment.

"So you've read it then," said Snape slowly.

"No."

"Don't lie to me boy," spat Snape, as he reached out and snatched the notepad from Harry's grasp.

To his credit, Harry didn't even flinch at the movement.

"I won't deny that I tried to open it, several different times I might add, but I couldn't get past whatever defences you put on that thing. Every time I tried I would find myself more confused, and having to take a long shower to scrub the blue tinge off of my skin. I even tried to duplicate the spells onto a few of my own items, as I found them quite… inspirational."

Snape, who had already walked back to his desk and began to examine the notepad, looked back up at the boy when he said that last part.

"I created these protective spells myself, I shouldn't expect a 1st year student to be able to break them nor copy them, and yes that applies to you too," said the Head of Slytherin with a smug tone of voice. "I don't care how advanced you think you are, it took me years to come up with this protective barrier, not even the Dark Lord would be able to read it without damaging and altering the material within…"

"You got the design from a muggle passcode didn't you? My guess would be some kind of mix between blood runes and a password, and chances are that both are somehow tied to my mother," said Harry, walking up to stand in front of Snape's desk.

Snape's head shot up so fast, Harry would have laughed if the situation weren't any more serious.

"How… How did you?" stuttered Snape, looking truly at a loss for words for the first time Harry had met him.

"I figured it out after we went down to save the stone. I actually owe the credit to my friend Hermione. Your protection wasn't an obstacle. It was a puzzle. You thought it best to protect it not with something that requires magical strength to get through, but with logic. In Hermione's words, 'a lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic,' so it makes sense that you would use the same protections on that notepad, only this time you couldn't use a puzzle. My guess would be that you found a way to alter the standard encrypted code that's found on muggle computers to generate a passcode for that notepad, and keyed it to the one person that means the world to you… the one person that you thought would be able to solve your puzzle… the one person that you wanted to see what was in that notepad… my mum."

Snape just stared at Harry disbelieving.

Harry stood there awkwardly for a whole three minutes while Snape said nothing, before turning to leave.

He was nearly at the door, before he heard Snape speak.

"Why?"

Harry frowned. That wasn't the reaction he had been expecting. Turning around to look back at the Potions Master, he saw that the man was still sitting in his chair, holding his head up with his hands as he stared down at the notepad in front of him.

"Excuse me?" questioned Harry, not understanding what he was asking.

"Why did you never read it, if you knew how to?" questioned Snape, not daring to look at the boy in front of him.

Harry stood there silently. It was a question that had kept him up all night ever since he had made the discovery, but it was one that he had an answer to.

"Because it wasn't my secrets to learn. With all due respect Sir, I already know more about your past then I care for, I don't need to see what's in that notepad to know what you thought of my mother, my father, of the Dark Lord, or Albus Dumbledore. If there's anything else in that notepad that I don't already know about, well then it should remain just that, your secrets. You obviously created that thing to house your deepest secrets so that no-one would be able to find them when they read your mind, it's not my place to go through them without your permission."

Once again, Snape just stared at Harry for quite a while, before looking down at the notepad on his desk. He couldn't believe that someone, a mere boy of eleven, could have discovered so much about him without even looking inside the notepad. It was the last reminder that Snape needed, that Harry Potter not only had inherited the brilliance and gentle nature of Lily Evans, but the brash and dubious side of James Potter. He couldn't even characterize him as either his mother or his father's son anymore. He knew now, that he exemplified the best in both of them.

_Merlin am I going to need a stiff drink tonight,_ thought Snape as he once again put his head in his hands.

Harry took this as his cue to leave, and without a word slipped back out of the classroom, though not before he could hear Snape's parting words of, "enjoy your holidays, Potter".

* * *

_C'mon there's got to be an empty compartment around here somewhere, _thought Neville desperately as he pushed his way down the aisle and through the crowd. _It might not have been the best decision to stay for third helpings._

The train wasn't set to depart until ten and Neville had gotten to the station at 9:30, yet he was finding it extremely difficult to find an empty compartment. After walking up and down the train twice, at which point he bumped into Hermione and Susan, the three simply decided give up on finding their own compartment and accepted one of the numerous offers given to them.

This was how Harry found them when he eventually stuck his head in the right compartment, his three best friends sitting with Tonks, and two other Hogwarts graduates Jeremy Jones and Michael Adams, both members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

Both Jones and Adams turned out to be easygoing guys, and weren't too upset about losing the match that cost Ravenclaw the House and Quidditch cup. They did however comment that when they next saw Harry on a broom, they better be on the same team.

They had several visitors including Oliver Wood (he, Jones, and Adams were apparently good friends and when they weren't chirping each other, were already in talks about playing together professionally for a career). Fred and George also popped by to show off the new version of Exploding Snap they had invented (Tonks thoroughly enjoyed it, though she was quite horrible at it) and so to did Alicia, Angelina and Katie, though they didn't stay long.

Other than Harry's Quidditch teammates they were also briefly visited by Penelope Clearwater (despite the fact that the loss had cost her ten galleons in a bet with Percy Weasley she still congratulated Harry for his catch before falling into a discussion with Tonks about the older girls plans for after graduation). They had been delighted to hear that Tonks had been accepted into the Auror training program and would be starting in August, while Jeremy and Michael had already accepted contract offers to play for Puddlermore United in the British Quidditch League.

The only disturbance they had was when Malfoy showed up to harass his favourite enemies, but even he made a quick exit after seeing the three seventh years in their compartment.

After that visit, the group decided to put a few locking charms on the door for privacy, allowing them to enjoy the rest of the ride to Kings Cross Station, undisturbed.

When it was finally time to get off on the station there was no escaping the attention surrounding the group.

Students of all ages were shouting their goodbyes to Harry and his friends, and Tonks even managed to drag them off to meet her family.

Andromeda seemed very nice, and so too did Ted, but unfortunately they weren't able to stay long and chat as Andromeda received an urgent call from work and had to leave two minutes after meeting them.

On the platform they also caught sight of a few other families they knew, most recognizably the Weasley's because of their size in numbers.

Excluding Fred, George, Ron, Percy, all of whom the four friends had shared a castle with for the past year, there was also two older boys, one of whom (Charlie) was covered in scars from his career in dragon handling, while the other (Bill) had his hair tied back in a ponytail and wore a thick dragon hide jacket and had dragon fang ear piercings. The most perplexing though was the little girl that hung behind her mother the entire time, but never took her eyes off of Harry. Whenever he looked at her, she would emit a small squeal and proceed to hide behind her mother's leg, only daring to look out again when she was sure Harry wasn't looking at her anymore.

It was after little Ginny Weasley's third squeal that the four young friends caught sight of their own family and quickly hurried over to them.

Before they knew it, they were already back home at the Manor.

* * *

"So what was the rush to get back from the station today, anyway?" asked Harry.

"What's it matter to you? Too busy enjoying the attention of Ginny Weasley?" joked Neville.

Harry actually had to put his head down to hide his blush. He really didn't like all the attention surrounding him, and the little girl was almost creepy, considering how big of an obsession she had with him.

"We're only teasing, Potter, don't get your underwear in a twist," said Susan as she slapped Harry on the arm.

"Why were we in such a rush to get back from the station though?" asked Hermione, quick to turn the discussion away from another one of Harry Potter's fan girls to the grinning adults.

"Well, you see it's very simple children…" began James, taking a pause to look at the smiling faces of all the other adults.

"WE'RE GOING ON A FAMILY VACATION!" they all shouted in unison, causing the kids to jump up in down and excitement.

* * *

After a frantic rush to get everything together as soon as possible, the Potters, Longbottoms, Bones, Marauders and Grangers took a trip to Gringotts where they took the Potter family portkey to their Villa in the French Mediterranean.

The kids were going ballistic by the time they finally arrived. They had already hoped to make plans to go exploring, shopping as well as preparing for the family Quidditch match at the end of their stay. It had been decided beforehand that they would have a friendly Quidditch match between the entire family. Only Dan and Emma were exempt from playing since it wasn't possible for muggles to fly. As compensation, Dan and Emma each got to pick a day excursion for the entire family – Dan had chosen golfing, while Emma had chosen scuba diving.

It certainly promised to be one hell of a vacation.

* * *

"Okay so here's the family vacation itinerary," said Hermione, as she handed it out a stack of paper to everyone in the room. "Tomorrow we'll go into town for a day of exploring and shopping, Tuesday morning we're going golfing followed by an afternoon learning how to sail, Wednesday you can relax and do your own thing, Thursday we're going hiking, Friday will be our day at the beach, Saturday can be another free day, and Sunday is the big Quidditch match."

"Hermione, do we have to plan everything out," whined Sirius.

"Yes. Yes we do," said Hermione, as she crossed her arms and gave Sirius a stern look, causing him to squirm under the young witches' gaze. "I put a lot of effort into this and I want this to be the best vacation ever."

Dan just gave his little daughter a hug, knowing she can get a little out of hand when she gets excited. "Honey, it's the company that makes it great, not all the activities… Although I must say I do like how you gave us a couple free days to ourselves on that planner of yours," he said shooting Emma a wink.

"I think the schedule's a great idea," intervened Lily, before any of the children could realize why Alice was giggling so much, or that Emma was blushing like a fifteen year old girl. "It sounds like we're going to have an amazing vacation."

"But we still have one thing to decide -" said James.

"- The Quidditch teams," finished a now grinning Sirius.

"Well we've got more than 14 possible player, how do we sort the teams," asked Harry.

"And before any of you bookworms get any ideas – everyone has to play… There's no getting out of a family Quidditch game," said James, giving Lily a lopsided grin, causing the woman to roll her eyes in mock annoyance.

"Fine. We'll all play," said Lily. "We'll just have to have extra players on the field. How about instead of 3 chasers we can have 4, as well as 3 beaters."

"But won't that mean we have to have 3 of those awful Bludger things instead of only 2?" asked Hermione, with a scared look on her face.

"Of course," said Sirius quickly. "The more the merrier!''

"Splendid," grumbled Hermione, getting a chuckle out of the other kids.

"Okay well we have to make them as even as possible," said Frank. "Now Sirius, James, Remus and I were all pretty good flyers back when we were in school, keep in mind Clarissa is also really good, and Harry's probably the best out of all of us, so I propose that none of us get to play positions we normally would."

"Frank that's a brilliant idea!" said Alice. "We can have you, Matthew and James play beaters for one team, with Remus, myself, Clarissa and let's say… Susan as chasers, with… Hermione as our keeper, and the other team can have Harry, Joshua, and Sirius as chasers along with… Lily. Neville, Sarah and Amelia can be their beaters and… and we're one short…"

"And you forgot about the seekers!" said Harry.

"I could always just pick up a few birds on the beach and have them play," said Sirius suggestively.

However this suggestion was only met with several seat pillows being thrown in his direction, the mothers still weren't very happy about Sirius's unwillingness to settle down from his bachelor lifestyle. He had a new girl almost every week, and while the father's found the whole situation amusing, the mothers were very worried that it would have a corrupting influence on the kids.

"How about the kids invite a friend over for the game?" suggested Amelia. "If memory serves me, Susan, your childhood friend Hannah, will be starting at Hogwarts this fall and I'm sure she'd be most happy to spend the time with you. She hasn't seen you in almost a year, and it would be nice to introduce her to the others…"

"That sounds like a perfect idea, Amelia," said Emma, glad that there would be an even amount of players to the teams, despite her and Dan's unavailability.

"Oooh! You guys will love Hannah! She's really nice. I'm going to go write her a letter right now. Do you think we could invite her parents around too? They probably won't want her coming all the way to France, without being there to supervise. Harry do you think I can borrow Hedwig?" said Susan, in a matter of what must've been less than 10 seconds.

The others just laughed at the little girl's excitement as Hedwig flamed into the living room to receive her letter.

* * *

The Abbotts were an old wizarding family. While they weren't anywhere near as old as those Wizarding families who were considered Ancient, like the Potters or the Blacks, they, like plenty of other families in the wizarding world, were well aware of magical creatures like phoenixes. That didn't mean however, that they ever expected to see one of these creatures, let alone have one flame into their kitchen during breakfast, delivering a letter to them asking to join the Bones, Longbottoms, Potters and Grangers for a weeklong holiday in France.

They were speechless; they couldn't believe that they just got a personal invitation to join Harry Potter, and his family and friends on their vacation. Realizing that this would've been one of Susan's ideas of a brilliant prank they were a little sceptical, but then again, how in the world would she get her hands on a phoenix in the first place?

In the end, Melissa and Chris's hesitancy was won over by Hannah's excitement to see her best friend again, and the four Abbotts (they had a younger son named Ben) grabbed a hold of the attached port key that would take them to France.

* * *

"Hannah!" screamed Susan, as she ran to give her old friend a hug. "It's so good to see you! I'm so glad you came; we have so much to talk about! Come on I'll introduce you and your parents to everyone." And without waiting for a response she pulled Hannah, Ben and her parents into the living room to meet the rest of the family.

"Hannah, I'd like you to meet our extended family. You already know Auntie of course, but let me introduce you to everyone else. Over here you have the Longbottoms, that's Alice and Frank, and these are their children Neville, Matthew and Joshua; and then there's the Marauders. They're kind of like are uncles, we have the responsible one – Remus, and the jokester – Sirius. And this is the Granger family – this is their daughter Hermione and her parents Dan and Emma, they're both non-magical, but you hardly even notice. And last but not least there's the Potters."

It wasn't hard to see that Hannah was clearly in awe of Harry, especially for Hermione. She did have to admit that the little girl was nowhere near as bad as Ginny, but it still bugged her that she was thinking of the legend of Harry Potter and not the nice boy waving shyly at her. Hermione couldn't help but instinctively move a little closer to Harry on the couch, in what could be seen as a subtle show of possession, but after getting to know the girl and her parents, she couldn't help but feeling guilty about her actions. That didn't mean she was going to move back however.

* * *

In the end it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable weeks in the family's life. They spent the evening's together exchanging stories out on the deck, while their days were filled with adventure.

They found that despite Dan's teachings most of them were so terrible at golfing that a few of them – mainly Sirius and James – proceeded to use magic to enhance their abysmal game. In the end, the joke was on the pranksters however when Dan still managed to beat their score, without the help of magic.

Shopping in the local village was another activity that the family thoroughly enjoyed as they were able to explore the local magical neighbourhood that housed rare plants and books that weren't found in stores in Diagon Alley.

Unsurprisingly during the holiday, the children incorporated Ben and Hannah brilliantly, with Hannah finding new best friends in Hermione, Susan, Neville and Harry, while Ben did the same with Joshua, Mathew, Clarissa and Sarah.

All too soon it came to the last day of their holiday, and the family Quidditch match.

Hermione, Lily, Alice, Susan, Neville and the rest of the family that didn't know how to fly very well, had been receiving lessons from Harry and those who did throughout the week, and after a couple of falls, they had gotten the hang of it well enough to participate.

The game itself was a mash up, as instead of the customary seven players per team, there were nine (Ben and Chris joined to play seeker for each team, Hannah was a keeper and Melissa was allowed to sit out as she was nursing an injury). The pitch they played on was smaller than regulation size. As a result there was more ball movement than normal, as the more proficient flyers had to slow down their speed to include the others. The game turned out to be fairly even with Harry's team having the slight edge of Quaffle possession, but it had been Chris who caught the snitch to win the game for the other team.

With the Quidditch game in the history books, the family decided to spend their last evening sleeping together outside, camping underneath the stars.

They ended up talking long into the night, discussing their favourite parts of the holiday (Emma's idea of scuba diving had been a big hit with the kids, the dads enjoyed the day of golfing, and the mothers enjoyed spending time wondering the streets of the seaside town). The Abbotts were amazed at how close and welcome they had felt to the family all week long, and couldn't believe some of the tales they were told. By the end of the week, the Abbotts felt they had made very close friends with the family, and gladly accepted their invitation to Harry and Neville's joint birthday party at the end of July.

When it was finally time to leave, the family surprised the Abbotts by giving them a magical communication mirror, so that they could keep in touch, and asked if Hannah and Ben could drop by for a few visits to the Manor to play with the other children. The whole family considered the Abbotts the newest member of their large crowd.


	29. Birthday Celebrations

Arriving home from their vacation was a little strange for the family, as their days become rather quiet in comparison to how their adventures the week prior went.

The parents had to take the time to catch up on any work they had missed during their absence while Hermione was adamant that the four young Gryffindors finish their summer homework.

It really wasn't that much of a bother, as they had an almost unlimited resource in the Potter-Longbottom-Bones library, thus ensuring that they could use almost any resource they wanted for their essays.

The only problem was that Harry, Neville and Susan in particular were reluctant to miss out on the warm summer weather.

While Hermione had no problem simply bringing a book outside with her to read, Harry was more inclined to play Quidditch with Matthew, Joshua and Clarissa, while Neville preferred to work with the plants in the Greenhouse and Susan enjoyed swimming in the pool with Sarah.

Still, they couldn't get away with pushing their studies aside for too long, as their mothers and Hermione made sure that they finished at least two assignments per week.

Harry had decided to start with Snape's essay, since he thought that it would most likely be the hardest, allowing himself to finish off with the subjects he was strongest in.

Neville on the other hand went straight for his favourite subject and decided to complete his Herbology assignment first.

Susan simply chose to work on whatever the next assignment was on her list.

Hermione of course was the first to finish her homework for the summer, allowing her to use her free time for any further advanced reading she wished to do. For the most part though, she was content to simply help out her friends by providing tips and reading over their essays to check their grammar and arguments.

The parents were no slouches during this time either, as aside from their work responsibilities, they had also tasked themselves with an important assignment: planning Harry's and Neville's 12th birthday party.

They liked the idea of making it a pool party, and had even asked Hermione and Susan for their input.

The two girls had suggested not only who they thought should be invited, but also certain party snacks, games or music they thought should be included.

After much deliberation, it was decided that Dan and Frank would be in charge of the food & drinks, Remus and Sirius the party games, Lily and Alice the decorations, Emma and Amelia the music & gift-bags, and James the invitations. Hermione and Susan were left in charge of keeping Harry and Neville in the dark about the whole thing.

Sirius couldn't have been more chuffed about the responsibility he and Moony had been given, and it was up to Remus to make sure he didn't go overboard. These games would have to be age appropriate after all.

Frank and Dan, two of the best cooks in the household, were the obvious choices to be in charge of the food; especially since this pool party would essentially be a backyard barbecue. The two men were so excited, that Emma had to begin reminding them that this birthday was about Harry and Neville, each time the two fathers lapsed into a discussion about the best way to tenderize and grill the meat.

Emma's and Amelia's job was supposed to be pretty straight forward, though they struggled to set up a playlist since Hermione and Susan kept budding in with suggestions. The gift bags were another matter in themselves. After much pestering on behalf of Hermione and Susan, the two women eventually just had to relinquish and allow the two girls to help plan the party. It took them some time, but eventually the four were able to come up with both a music playlist, and a set of gift bags that they were quite proud of.

Lily and Alice had probably been given the hardest job, as not only did they have to decide what decorations they wanted to do, how they wanted to arrange them, but also plan on how to set the whole thing up without Harry and Neville noticing. For that matter, they had decided to recruit the younger children's help in distracting the two boys the day before the party, so that they could work away from prying eyes. They had even taken it upon themselves to charm all of the decorations they had so that they were invisible until they applied the countercharm, therefore making it impossible for anyone to see what they had planned.

Thanks to Hedwig, James thought he had surely been given the easiest job. All he had to do was write out a few invitations to the invited guests – the Abbotts, the Tonks, Harry's Quidditch teammates, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, and Albus Dumbledore – and Harry's familiar would do the rest.

What James didn't know was that Hedwig would prove to be a lot more helpful then he could have ever imagined.

He didn't know it at the time, but aside from their mirrors, Hedwig was the only means of communication that was not affected by the little house elf that was currently blocking all of the kid's mail.

Originally they had thought it slightly odd that the kids hadn't received any mail from classmates, and yet here they were, almost three weeks in and without a word from any of them.

It really was a bit of a mystery, and it went unsolved until Hedwig returned with the replies to the birthday invitations.

* * *

The reply's from the Abbotts, the Tonks, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall, were to be expected, as seeing as how they were all proud owners of one of the Marauders magical communication mirrors, the family had been able to keep in touch with them over the break.

The responses from Harry's Quidditch teammates were much more out of the ordinary.

All of them alluded to how spectacular Hedwig the phoenix was, and yet they also asked why the family hadn't bothered to return any of their letters.

Seeing as he couldn't ask Harry or Neville about it, James thought it would be wise to check with Hermione and Susan to see if maybe they had heard from their other classmates or not.

Both girls had said they hadn't heard a word from any of them all summer, and had all but demanded to read the letters.

Wood's was pretty straightforward.

_Dear James,_

_Are you kidding me? Of course I'll be there. Was beginning to get a bit worried when I hadn't heard from you lot all summer. Can't miss out on my star seeker's 12__th__ birthday now can I? Any chance we could get a Quidditch match going while we're there?_

_Cheers, Oliver_

_P.S. this phoenix is brilliant by the way. You should have seen the way it startled me brother when it flamed into the living room. Poor chap nearly soiled himself._

The responses from Katie, Alicia and Angelina were similar, all of whom gladly accepting the invitation, though wondering how they managed to use a phoenix to deliver the letter, and why this was the first they'd heard from them all summer.

The most troubling response however, was that of the Weasley twins.

_Prongs,_

_First off may we naïve troublemakers profess our profound gratitude for your humbled invitation to attend the 12__th__ birthday party of the second generation of Marauders; you truly are too gracious to bless us with your brilliance. It's only been what, the first response to the 9__th__ letter we've sent your family this summer? You were supposed to recommend which product is the best money value in your joke store, but I guess we can forgive your actions if you'd be so kind as to send a pair of those trick doorknobs our way. _

_We're not sure if you're aware of this, but little Harry and his friends have become quite a popular dinner discussion at the Burrow after their first year at Hogwarts, and in the hope that it would see themselves invited, our parents have forbidden us from coming unless we attend as a family._

_Just a heads up, our little sister Ginny has had a crush on the 'Boy-Who-Lived' since she was five and our younger brother Ron has been bragging all summer about how he saved Harry Potter and his friends life. You should have seen the looks on their faces when Hedwig here arrived at the kitchen table. _

_So yeah, sorry about that, maybe you can just have this bird of yours take them to Scotland for the day. _

_Your pals, Gred and Forge_

Neither girl was very happy about the paragraph pertaining to Ron and Ginny, but they knew that Harry and Neville would want the twins at the party, so they'd just have to accept the baggage that came along with them.

* * *

One by one the guests Floo'd into the Manor, making their way out to the backyard, where the family had set up tables for the barbecue, a large pool for the children to play in, and a shed full of broomsticks for an afternoon match.

Harry and Neville were amazed at the party and we're delighted to have so many people over. Practically all their friends from school made it, and as a pleasant surprise, even Penelope Clearwater came, as she had tagged along with Percy Weasley (she was worried that she might have intruded, but Harry and Neville assured her they were happy she came).

Hagrid, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were the last to arrive at the Manor, though they could hardly be described as late when they were only ten minutes past the intended start time. Upon arriving Dumbledore did his usual thing of taking a seat off to the side and watching everyone around him, where as McGonagall and Hagrid went off to see if their was anything they could do to help with the preparations. Frank just laughed and shooed them out of the kitchen. McGonagall was quite put out at that, but she didn't hold it against them, she had expected as much. With nothing else to do, the two went outside to join the festivities, McGonagall still laying into Hagrid with a verbal lashing about how irresponsible it was to bring a group of first years into the Forbidden Forest as a school endorsed detention. Hagrid of course knew better than to stick around and endure the endless wrath of the Professor, so being as stealthy as possible for a half-giant, he slipped away at the nearest opportunity and bolted for the pool. The resulting splash from his cannonball was so big that he was able to soak virtually everybody that was standing within a five meter radius. By the time the adults had whipped out their wands and dried themselves off, they had to refill the pool with a couple of Aquamenti charms, as the kids were now desperate to jump into the pool themselves.

Matthew and Joshua were the first ones in, seemingly forgetting that they weren't the best swimmers and were currently without their water wings, nor did they wait for the pool to actually fill up with water, but Hagrid quickly grabbed a hold of them and held onto them so they wouldn't drown.

Harry's quidditch teammates were the next ones in the pool, followed closely by Harry, Neville, Hannah, Ben, Sarah, Clarissa, Ron, Penelope and Percy.

It didn't take long for a huge game of Marco Polo to start up with Hagrid being it. The only problem was that they didn't know why Hermione and Susan had suddenly started acting so weird and had refrained from joining everyone else and jumping in the pool. It was as if they were trying to impersonate little Ginny Weasley by hiding behind the adults and staring shyly at the kids the entire time.

Unbeknownst to them, Hermione and Susan were actually going through what most 12 year old girls experience at the time when their bodies started adjusting. The two were actually feeling a little embarrassed at the thought of having to go swimming in a two piece bathing suit in the same pool as the older and much more developed Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Penelope Clearwater. Even Katie Bell had gained a few curves since they last saw her, and she was only set to start third year this year.

In the end though they were able to overcome their embarrassment and insecurities, when they noticed that none of the boys their age seemed to be paying any attention to the opposite sex, and were instead busying themselves with trying to explain to their Wizarding friends how to play water polo. Plus they really didn't have much of a choice, once James and Sirius decided to pick them up and unceremoniously throw them into the pool, the parents behind them either howling with laughter, or berating them foe doing something so stupid.

Dumbledore just leaned back in his lawn chair and smiled as he watched Lily advance on her husband, no doubt intending to beat some sense into him for what he had just done. He nearly choked on his pineapple explosion when he saw James step to the side and push Lily into the pool too.

Soon it was all out war, as the parents began fighting to see who could be the last man/woman standing, and as he sat and watched, Dumbledore decided it best to use his wand to expand the size of the pool, if only to ensure that it could accommodate the increase of people.

When the tag team of Alice, Emma and Amelia were able to knock James into the water, Lily's cheers were easily the loudest as she dunked her husbands head under water. Back on land, the three woman were facing off with the only other two survivors: Remus and Frank.

Frank was probably the largest man there with the obvious exception of Hagrid, and was probably responsible for dunking the most amount people into the pool. Remus was no slouch either, as his wolf instincts ensured that he was never caught in a vulnerable position, and he had the upper body strength to overpower just about anyone if the opportunity arose to push them into the pool.

Alice, Emma and Amelia worked like a team, attacking from different flanks, yet maintaining a close enough distance that they could easily reach their teammate to offer their assistance if one of them were targeted by the two larger males.

In the end, that was exactly what happened. Emma made the mistake of getting a little too close to Remus before the other two were in position, and the wolf did not hesitate to attack.

With Remus grabbing a hold of Emma, Amelia practically launched herself on top of the younger male. Frank, now facing his wife, didn't hesitate to grab hold of her and throw her into the pool, much to the chagrin of James and Sirius. When Alice surfaced, she was still spitting out water and she exchanged a look with Lily that very clearly described how long it would be before their husbands got lucky again.

With Alice out of the running, Frank was left to try and pry Amelia off of Remus, but the older witch wouldn't give an inch. Deciding that there was nothing else he could do, he was all set to try and push all three of them into the pool, when he felt a pair of hands grab hold of his leg. Looking down he saw the smiling face of Melissa Abbott as she latched herself onto his ankle. James and Sirius quickly tried to swim over to help their mate, but it was too late. Not only were Lily and Alice fighting to hold them back, but Hagrid had joined the fight also, and he had sided with the girls.

Frank could do nothing to tear his leg free from Melissa's grasp, and when Penelope, Alicia, Angelina and Katie were able to grab hold of his clothes, he tumbled into the pool.

Now it was just Emma, Remus and Amelia left in the fight, as the two woman fought to overcome the lone wolf. Unfortunately, being the shortest of the three, Amelia was at a distinct disadvantage in the fight, as her feet didn't touch the ground when she was hanging onto Remus's shoulders.

When Remus realized this, the fight was all over.

With one witch already latched onto his shoulders from behind, Remus was able to pick Emma up by the waist, once Amelia stopped kicking him in the back.

The kids, seeing what was about to happen, hastened to get out of the way, as Remus walked into the pool with both witches holding onto him.

Dumbledore couldn't decide who had won that little match, but happily noted that it didn't seem to bother anyone at all, as everyone stayed in the pool to participate in an oversized game of water polo, The game was another test of girls against boys, though Hagrid was once again on their team. His sheer size in goal alone practically guaranteed them the victory, as nobody was able to get a shot past him.

After over an hour of swimming it was time for lunch. Dan and the Weasley parents, the only parents that hadn't participated in the pool fight and water polo game had already set the table so that it was ready for them. Thanks to magic, it didn't take longer than a few seconds for everyone to dry off as the crowd sat down to enjoy the expertly cooked hamburgers and hotdogs that Dan and Frank had made. Most of the guests in attendance had never had one before, and found them to be absolutely delicious as Mrs. Weasley ended up doing everything short of begging Dan for the recipe, while Mr. Weasley spent the afternoon asking him how a barbecue worked.

When lunch was done, the family decided it was time for gifts.

Neville and Harry each received numerous presents from their family and friends. They each got a hand-knitted sweater from the Weasley's and a couple of chocolate frogs, the Marauders handbook from Sirius and Remus, books from the Grangers, a set of quills from the Abbotts, Gyffindor house clothing from the Professors, a picture book from Hermione and Susan, a plant from Augusta, Auror handbooks from Amelia, a Zonko's gift certificate from Penny, paintings from their little brothers and sisters, a pensieve from their mothers, and a set of matching wristwatches from their fathers. Harry also got a subscription to Quidditch Weekly and a broom servicing kit from his Quidditch teammates, while Neville received an adjustable dragon hide jacket.

They loved each of the gifts they received, and were extremely grateful to the people who had given it to them. Like all boys their age however, they had a few favourites. While all the gifts were very thoughtful, it was the set of wristwatches they cherished the most. Their fathers had told them they were familial property of the two families, and that they represent the alliance between the House of Longbottom and the House of Potter, and had been passed down from father to son for generations. Apart from just the sentimental value of the gift they were also charmed to allow the holder to store up to a small room's worth of contents within them, meaning that both boys, could now carry all their possessions with them at all times. The pensieve was also a very thoughtful gift and would most likely prove to be extremely useful in the future, but it was the picture book given to them by Hermione and Susan that held the consensus of most thoughtful. Inside were photos taken from the girls memories of every event over the past 5 years ranging from first meetings, pre-Hogwarts lessons, hugs in the bathroom after the troll incident, Christmas with the family, Quidditch, the Harry and McGonagall dance (the family was quite happy to see that for the first time) and days from their vacation to France.

Needless to say it was an emotional moment for both boys, going through each of the gifts they received from their family and friends.

Before the moment could get too sappy however Sirius decided to put an end to it by announcing that it was time for a good Quidditch game.

Hermione, Lily, Alice, Susan, Neville, Sarah and quite a few others were relieved to learn they didn't have to fly, as they weren't about to have one giant game of Quidditch. Instead they opted for a classic matchup of the championship Gryffindor Quidditch team against an all-star team of parents, that boasted James, Sirius and Frank as chasers, Remus and Bill as Beaters, Charlie as Seeker and Ron as Keeper.

The spectators were gifted with a thrilling matchup that saw Wood stand on his head keeping out several sure goals for the adults, excellent Quaffle movement by the chasers on both teams, and another perfectly executed Wronski feint by Harry, en route to catching the Golden Snitch. It seemed that the Gryffindor team was destined to repeat as champions in the coming year, with every single player on the team returning for another cup run.

All too soon it was time for the guests to leave, but with a promise to write often, and to go school shopping at Diagon Alley together, the birthday boys headed off to their joint bedroom happier then they'd been in a long time.

* * *

In the days following the boy's birthday party, communicating with their friends who didn't have a magical mirror proved to be a hardship once again, with only Hedwig able to make deliveries.

The family thought it strange, but at the same time it didn't bother them that much.

They had already adjusted to a more solitary life, having retreated into the muggle world over ten years ago to avoid Harry's fame, they were quite happy simply living amongst themselves. While the parents had originally been worried this would have negative effects on the children, they had learned that if anything, it had brought them closer together.

Harry and Neville were often roped into a game of 'house' or 'tea-party' with Sarah, Clarissa, and the two young girls large collection of dolls, while Hermione read to the kids, and Susan tutored them in the art of pranking.

The parents found the whole thing adorable, though Sirius made sure he captured a few photographs of Harry and Neville playing dress-up with their younger sisters. More then once, he found that the photograph would mysteriously dissapear within the next day, but Sirius was relentless in his pursuit. After all, that type of blackmail material would be priceless someday.

Plus their had been the added bonus of not having them influenced by any of the Wizarding Worlds rampant prejudice.

In fact, one of the very first protections that was placed on the manor was with regards to owl-post, redirecting any and all letters to the Headmasters office for inspection before they were allowed to enter their home. At first, Lily and Alice had thought the idea to be infringing on their freedoms, but after baby Neville had been splashed with a few drops of bubbapuss from a letter, both mothers had no problem with Dumbledore's suggestion, provided that he simply cast detection charms on their mail instead of actually opening it.

To this day, the parents were still weary of any letters that were addressed to them. Now that these messages had mysteriously stopped, they knew something had gone wrong.

It took a few days, but eventually the family had their answer. They just didn't expect it to come in the form of a shabby looking house elf, dressed in a ragged pillow case, with tennis ball eyes, bat ears, and a large nose.

* * *

Hermione and Harry were studying quietly in the library, trying to learn anything they could from Lily's old journals & textbooks from her time as a healer.

With their homework officially completed, they had decided to spend the month of August reading up on medical and healing practices, in the hope that they'd be able to learn a few useful spells or potions themselves.

Hermione had unfortunately found that almost all of the spells described in the books were beyond her level, but was appeased by the knowledge that she could still brew healing potions. Obviously she would have preferred to learn the spells as that would negate having to purchase expensive ingredients for brewing, but she was still happy with the few spells she had picked up from her reading.

Harry, given his proficiency with spell casting, was able to pick up on a few more spells. While he didn't actually have someone to test them on, he was confident that he could heal scrapes and bruises, broken bones, and other minor injuries.

Neville and Susan had also found the topic fascinating and spent many an afternoon joining them in the library, but it was still their preference to read outside while the weather was still enjoyable.

On this afternoon though, Harry and Hermione were alone in the library with Crookshanks currently sleeping on his masters lap, when the strangest creature popped onto the table they were working at and started wriggling his fingers nervously. The sound of the slight pop that his arrival made was enough to wake the sleeping ginger cat, who was now staring at Dobby, unsure if he should attack the creature in front of him, or run for the hills. Thankfully Hermione wrapped her arms around him before he could do either of these things, and began stroking the fur behind his ears to settle him down.

"Er – hello," said Harry nervously.

"Harry Potter! So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir… Such an honour it is…"

"Uhh, thanks," said Harry, still at a loss as to what this creature was doing on the library table.

"My name's Dobby, the house elf Dobby, I have come to tell you something important…" said the elf in a hushed tone, as if it was scared someone would overhear him.

"Well Dobby why don't you sit down and you can tell us what brought you here," offered Hermione in a gentle voice.

While she was trying to soothe the nervous elf, this did anything but, as he promptly started sobbing hysterically. "You… you'ze would allow Dobby to sit… Dobby has never been allowed by anyone to sit, like an equal"

"You can't have met many decent wizards then," said Hermione, trying to cheer him up.

Dobby shook his head. Then without warning, he leapt up and started banging his head furiously on the window, shouting "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Stop!" screeched Hermione, "what're you doing!" grabbing the little elf and pulling him back to the table, knocking Crookshanks to the ground in the process. The cat gave an angry meow to voice its disapproval as it ran out of the room.

"Dobby had to punish himself, Ms.," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, Ms.…"

"Granger, Hermione Granger," provided Harry, noticing that his friend was far too concerned with the current health of this creature to properly introduce herself.

"Your family?" asked Hermione, proving Harry's assumption correct by not even turning to acknowledge him.

"The wizard family Dobby serves, Ms. Grangey… Dobby is a house elf – bound to serve one house and one family forever…"

"Do they know you're here? Asked Harry curiously.

Dobby shuddered. "Oh no, sir, no… Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir – "

The two kids were horrified. They tried to ask him that surely his family must notice these punishments, and discourage them, but the little elf replied that they frequently told him to do extra punishments.

"But why don't you leave? Escape?" asked Hermione.

"A house-elf must be set free, and the family will never set Dobby free… Dobby will serve the family until he dies."

"Is there any way we can help you?" asked Harry.

Almost immediately, the little elf broke down into sobs, and it took nearly two minutes later for Dobby to finish wiping his tears on his pillowcase before he was ready to speak again.

"Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby… Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness Dobby never knew…"

Hermione looked over at Harry, starting to become slightly scared that whatever punishment his family had subjected him to had caused the little elf to lose his sanity.

"Dobby has heard that Harry Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time, just weeks ago… that Harry Potter beat him again."

When Harry gave a short nod at this statement, Dobby once again broke down into tears.

"Harry Potter is valiant and bold! He has braved so many dangers already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn him, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later… Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.

"There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts this year," whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has known it for months, sir. Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. He is too important, sir!"

"What terrible things? Said Harry at once. "Who's plotting them?"

But Dobby couldn't answer. He tried to punish himself by banging his head against the closest bookshelf, but harry was too quick, and grabbed him when he jumped off the table.

"Dobby, if there is something horrible going on at Hogwarts this year, I've got to go back, I've got to protect my friends."

"Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter?" said Dobby slyly.

"Well we've been having difficulty using – hang on," said Hermione, frowning. "How do you know our friends haven't been writing to us?"

"Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby – Dobby did it for the best…"

"Dobby. It's ok, if this was your way of trying to help us then thank-you but it wasn't very nice. If it wasn't for Hedwig you could've ended a few of our friendships by doing that," said Hermione in a chastising voice.

Dobby just stared at her, seemingly unable to respond, until Hedwig flamed into the room and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"That… That's a phoenix! Harry Potter has a phoenix! Harry Potter has a phoenix! Dobby is knowing Harry Potter is capable, but to see it! Harry Potter is the greatest wizard ever!"

But while Hermione was now trying to calm down the excited elf, Harry was engrossed in a silent discussion with Hedwig.

_Remember what the centaurs told you Harry? That you and your friends would help unite the world in the fight against evil. Well, I believe this is your first test. You must help Dobby and other elves like him, to free them from oppression._

_But how? _Thought Harry.

_That is for you to figure out young one. There are many ways you can go about it to help them, but only one act can free them. A house elf can only be freed when their master gives them clothes, but a free elf isn't necessarily a happy elf. You must find a way to change the treatment of these creatures._

_You mean like starting up a society that spreads awareness and encourages people to improve their treatment towards elves? That changes the social stigma?_

_That sounds like a splendid idea to me Harry, I'm sure your other friends will be most happy to join._

_Thanks Hedwig, you really are amazing._

_And don't you forget it, little one. _And with that she flamed away.

Dobby must have left sometime during their discussion as Hermione was sitting back at the table, looking at Harry anxiously.

"What did Hedwig say, Harry?"

"Well Hermione, what would you say to forming a society to improve the treatment towards house elves?"

Whatever response Harry was expecting from his best friend, he never expected her to launch herself at him for a hug, tackling him to the ground and probably breaking a rib in the process.


	30. Trouble with Books

As Harry soon learned though, Hermione wasn't the only one interested in the idea of forming a house elf awareness group, as it was also a smashing success amongst the rest of the family as everyone found their own way to pitch in and help out.

Emma spent her time kitting small socks that would hopefully be used to free elves, while Sirius, James and Remus used their innovative talent to create over 300 magical buttons that sponsored the group.

They spent their time going over various objectives, and settling on a name for the society, with Lily's name of Society for Promoting House Elf Rights and Education (S.P.H.E.R.E) winning out in the end.

Hermione had been appalled to learn that Hogwarts employed more of them than anywhere else in Europe, and that each of the Bones, Potters, and Longbottoms had owned their own elf at one point or another. It took some convincing, but she was eventually assured that they treated their elves just like any other member of the family, and that Dobby was simply the odd case of abuse. What really surprised her however, was James explanation that most elves didn't want to be free, as they would much prefer working for a caring family. Being the young studious witch she was, she of course had to read up on the subject so that she could better understand these creatures and their relationship with wizards.

It hadn't been easy, but after hours of searching, and the family's help, they were eventually able to find a book that would answer their questions.

Hermione was appalled to learn that house elves had signed away their rights to wizards at the end of a long war between the two societies, but what was worse was the fact that this agreement was such that house elf's and all of their descendants were reliant on wizards for their own survival. Apparently a house elf had to be bonded to a witch or wizard in order to sustain their magic, and if unemployed elves can't find work, then they will eventually die a slow painful death.

For that reason they had to change the mission of their society, so that they were no longer striving to simply free elves from abusive environments, but to find them a caring family. The hope was that they could get eventually gain enough support to take their case before the Wizengamot and have them revoke or at least alter the legislature so that it wasn't so demeaning towards house elves.

If that wasn't challenging enough, the family also had to concern themselves with Dobby's warning.

After showing the parents his memory of the event in his and Neville's pensieve, Harry had outright stated that he would be returning to Hogwarts, and that he would not stand by and let innocent people be harmed by something that he had forewarning of. The parents had tried to reason with them, but it seemed that the four children were destined for yet another adventure where they had to save the school.

The parents were understandably worried about this, and though they understood both Harry's desire to stand up for other students and his friends desire not to abandon him, they decided it best to have a little private chat with McGonagall or Dumbledore over the matter.

* * *

After sending a letter to McGonagall with Hedwig, asking her to join them for afternoon tea in the coming week, the family was anxiously awaiting their impending discussion.

Unfortunately, Dobby's warning would have to wait until a later date, as McGonagall's response was to regretfully inform them that her schedule was booked full for the next few weeks in preparation for the new school year, as she had many new muggleborns to visit, a curriculum to plan, and the school's finances to sort out.

The parent's weren't overly concerned, as they could always speak with the Deputy Headmistress on another date, as they knew this conversation would likely last quite a while, and wasn't something that could simply be addressed in a letter, or a brief fifteen minute visit.

However, McGonagall's letter did give them something else entirely to talk about, as she had taken the liberty of attaching both he grades of all four students to her response and the next year's booklist.

Unsurprisingly all 4 kids did wonderful in their first year, with Harry narrowly beating out Hermione for top of their year, Neville coming 4th and Susan finishing 6th.

Harry ended up with three O+ in Transfiguration, Charms and Defence, an O in Herbology, an EE in Potions and Astrology and an A in History of Magic. It didn't shock anyone that his best subjects were ones involving spells, as this branch of magic had never proven to be a challenge for Harry. Sarah and Clarissa even teased him about the fact that it must've been hard for their Defence Professor to mark his exam when he was too busy getting his butt kicked by their older brother. That definitely got a laugh out of the family.

Hermione received O's in Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic, Astrology, and Herbology, and an EE in Potions, and Defence. She was quite happy with both hers and her friends marks, and held no hard feelings towards Harry for not finishing first in their year. Harry was extremely grateful for this, as a part of him was a little worried that she might be slightly disheartened by not coming first, even though she put in a lot more effort into her studies. Dan and Emma were almost more proud of Hermione for how well she took coming second than for her marks herself. It was just another subtle reminder that having friends in her life had changed their daughter dramatically from the quiet little bookworm that valued her school marks more than life itself.

Neville received an O+ in Herbology, an O in Defence, Charms and Transfiguration, an EE in Potions, and Astrology, and an A in History of Magic.

Susan received three O's (Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration), two EE (Astrology and Defence), and two A's (Herbology and History of Magic).

The parents were quite happy with the children's marks, though they did say they could try and out a little bit more effort into the classes they either didn't like, or weren't so strong at. This of course just led to Harry, Susan, and Neville complaining about how useless a teacher Binns was and how difficult it was to stay awake in his class.

Either way, the parents still decided to reward them for their accomplishments and happily decided to treat the kids to ice cream and a purchase of their choice, when they went shopping in Diagon Alley for their new booklist.

* * *

Life at the Manor was very busy the following week, as not only was there the excitement of preparing for another school year, but it was also a busy time of work for Amelia, Frank and Alice as the Auror department along with the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts department was completing several raids on wizarding families that had been accused of housing dark or illegal objects.

Remus, Sirius, and James had long since prepared for the increase of business as part of the back to school shopping, and had even hired a few extra hands to help man the storefront. A good thing too, otherwise Sirius would never have been able to attend the Malfoy raid like Amelia had promised him as a part of their bet.

Amelia wasn't too happy about him coming along, as Sirius hadn't been in action in over ten years, and could very likely prove to be a liability on the case if he let his hatred get in the way of doing his job properly. In the end though, there wasn't much she could do as Sirius had taken and passed the training regimen that all Aurors had to go through before accepting a case, proving that he hadn't lost any of the flair that had once made him one of the best Aurors in the business. Faced with no other alternative, Amelia had conceded and assigned Sirius to the case along with Frank and Alice, though she decided that she too would be attending, even if it were to only make sure that Padfoot didn't ruin the whole mission.

* * *

When the day for school shopping finally arrived, the large family Floo'd over to the Leaky Cauldron in England, ordering a round of butter beers and a light lunch as they waited for the Abbott's to arrive. The kids had been disheartened to learn that Remus was needed on the storefront and would be unable to accompany them in their shopping. They already knew that Amelia, Frank, Sirius and Alice wouldn't be able to make it as they were busy with another raid at work, but took some comfort from the fact that the family they were visiting today was none other than the Malfoy's.

When the large crowd of Weasley's entered the Leaky Cauldron, the family didn't really have much choice in the matter but to include them in their afternoon of shopping. As they waited for the Abbotts to arrive, they were pleasantly surprised to learn that that Mr. Weasley was also unavailable for the day since he was accompanying the four adults on their raid of Malfoy Manor.

Once they were all accounted for, the first stop for the large crowd was to visit their vaults in Gringotts to withdraw the necessary Galleons for their shopping. The Grangers were once again exceptionally grateful for the relation they had with their wizarding friends, as James gladly exchanged galleons for pounds, seeing that the exchange rate was set so that the goblins made profit no matter which currency you were converting. After a quick nauseating ride on the Gringotts carts, they exited the marble building and walked out into the sunshine to begin their shopping.

Since both Hannah and Ginny would be starting at Hogwarts this year they needed a full set of everything, they had to visit just about every store in the Alley. The two little girls were more than embarrassed at the thought of holding everyone up, but were appeased when the others firmly expressed that it wasn't any trouble, and they rather enjoyed going store-to-store window-shopping.

The parents often asked them if they wanted to go off by themselves and better explore the Alley, and while Percy, Fred and George gladly accepted (the twins doubling back around to revisit the Marauders store while Percy walked off in the opposite direction without a word), Ron chose to stay with the Harry and his friends, as they weren't interested in leaving the protection of the group and subjecting themselves to the strangers that were all staring at them.

At least if they stayed with the group they only had to put up with listening to Ron's crazy adventures. It wasn't ideal, but Harry sure thought it was better than having crowds of strangers swarming him for his autograph.

By the time Hannah and Ginny had gotten their essentials and were ready for the last stop of the day at Flourish & Blotts, the group had visited just about every store in the Alley, stopping to buy small things like Potions supplies, a new pair of seeker gloves, wand holsters, pet food, and a few choice items from the latest line of products produced by Marauders Magical Memoribilia.

What they didn't expect to see upon arriving was the large crowd gathered outside the store's doors, trying to get in. The reason for this proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

Will be signing copies of his autobiography

_MAGICAL ME_

Today 12:30 – 4:30 pm

"We can actually meet him!" squealed Susan, causing the boy's to raise an eyebrow in question to her unusual excitement.

"He's written almost the whole booklist!" said Hermione in matching excitement.

Harry just rolled his eyes and followed the ladies into the store, squeezing his way through the crowd. A long queue wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books.

Throughout the store, Neville and Harry could see that most of the women stood in line, busying their selves by adjusting their hair, while the men just grumbled through the store grabbing the required books before joining their wives in the queue. They had to supress a laugh when they saw that Mrs. Weasley was no exception to this observation, though the moment was ruined when they realized that so too were James, Lily, Melissa, Chris, Hermione and Susan.

Shaking their heads, the two boys tried to ignore the whole scene and follow James and Chris through the aisles of the store, looking for whatever books they needed, with their little brothers and sisters tagging along behind them.

They had already gathered everything they needed by the time Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view. He seated himself at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing vibrant blue robes that matched his eyes and a pointed hat that stood on top of his wavy blonde hair at an odd angle.

"Out of the way," snarled a short man with a large camera, pushing Ron back so he could get a better shot. "This is for the Daily Prophet."

"Big deal," said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it. "Shows you how rubbish the paper is, if they're willing to post an editorial on all this."

Many people in the room, including Lockhart, overheard this and turned to face Ron, with disapproving looks on their faces, but that seemed to disappear the instant they saw who the redheaded boy was talking to.

Lockhart dived forward, seized Harry's arm and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause, but Harry could see the frown on his family and friends faces.

"Nice big smile, Harry," said Lockhart, through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."

After the photographer had snapped a couple photos of the pair, Lockhart proceeded to announce that he would be taking the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts this fall, and that Harry would be receiving a fully signed copy of his entire works.

All of that was forgotten however, the moment Harry decided to use his elemental abilities to get Lockhart to release his grasp on his arm, as he had been unable to pull himself free.

Many people in the store gasped, while the photographer continued to snap photos of the whole thing.

Lockhart had let go of Harry's arm almost immediately, trying to cover up for the fact that he had literally just been burned by bantering on and on about how he'd teach younger students to better control their bouts of accidental magic. Harry just rolled his eyes behind the man before walking off the stage and dropping his autographed set of new books into Ginny's cauldron as he pushed his way out of the store.

Of course James thought the whole thing was hilarious, but Lily wasn't so sure. She didn't know if she should scold Harry for acting out like that in public, or if she should thump the idiot that had practically assaulted her son. Good looking or not, Lily Potter was not going to allow that to happen. Deciding that Lockhart's verbal dressing down could wait until another time, Lily ran out the store after Neville, the two trying to find where Harry had gone off to.

"Bet he just loved that," said a voice that the three remaining mini-Marauders had no trouble recognizing. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookstore without making the front page."

However, before Hermione or Susan could jump to their friends defence, a Weasley beat them to the punch.

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" said Ginny, now capable of speech once again seeing as Harry had left the room.

"Oooh Potter's got himself a girlfriend!" drawled Malfoy, causing Ginny's face to turn from a stony glare to a deep scarlet. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for that lot."

Behind her, Ron went as red as Ginny. He dropped his books into the cauldron too and started towards Malfoy, but was held back by the outstretched arm of James Potter, stepping in to break up the potential fight.

"Well, well, well – if it isn't the famous James Potter," came a cool voice from the entranceway of the store.

It was Mr. Malfoy. He was clad in a dark black travellers cloak, black pants, and black dragon hide boots, all made from the most expensive material money could buy.

As he approached them, many of the onlookers took a step back to grant him passage, though if it was out of being polite or being scared, the kids didn't know.

"Lucius," said James, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "Not that you would know, I heard you hardly get out of the house now," reaching into Ginny's cauldron and extracting from amidst the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. "_Why you insist on disgracing the name of wizard is beyond me," drawled Lucius, as he glanced over the shabbily dressed Weasley's to Dan and Emma who were watching nervously.

"Oh yes! It's been a real problem as of late," said a jovial James, "lots of people getting caught up in matters that no respectable witch or wizard should. I hear they're conducting several raids on many houses looking for illegal artefacts. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, I dare say that Amelia and the others are inspecting your house as we speak, old chap. I do hope they don't find anything, or you'll have to spend quite a bit of that family gold to get yourself out of trouble..."

Lucius, who had been smiling at the beginning of James little speech, paled nervously before dropping the book back into Ginny's cauldron and turning on his heel to leave the store at a brisk face, Draco hurrying to catch up.

"Don't worry about them, they're a rotten bunch," said James, putting a hand on the shaking Emma's shoulder in attempt to comfort her. Dan just nodded, wrapping his own arm around Emma, saying how nice it would be if the others found something illegal of the Malfoy's that they could put them in jail for.

With that happy thought the large crowd strode out of the bookstore, to catch up with Lily, Neville and Harry so that they could get some ice cream before leaving the Alley.

* * *

Meanwhile Mr. Weasley, Sirius, Amelia, Frank and Alice were searching Malfoy Manor, looking for any dark or illegal artefacts.

They had arrived early to begin their search and had already gone through 4 of the Manor's 5 floors, with only the library on the top-level left to search.

Sirius had not been very happy with the way things had turned out so far, as Amelia had kept a stern eye on him, never allowing him to wander off, and the group had yet to find anything they could charge Malfoy with.

However, that all changed when they walked up the stairs to the last floor in the house. It didn't take longer than five minutes to notice that the library was almost completely full of dark arts books.

"It's like a warehouse of dark artefacts up here. Are any of these texts outlawed by the Ministry," asked Mr. Weasley, just barely managing to hold back his excitement.

"Really professional of you, Arthur" said Amelia, in her stern on the job voice, though Frank and Alice could both see the amusement shining on her face.

Sirius didn't pay them much attention. Although he had accompanied them on their search, he wasn't technically working for the Ministry so he wasn't bound to follow the same rules and regulations as them.

However, before he could slip off into one of the aisles and do a little bit of examining himself, the group was interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Malfoy who knocked over a pile of books in his entrance in his hurry to intervene.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, may I ask why you have such a large collection of dark texts, most of which have been outlawed by the Ministry?" said Amelia in her most curious tone of voice possible.

Malfoy had to hide his sneer, recognizing Amelia's elite position within the Ministry he knew that only his favourable position with Fudge would save him from this quandary. "Last I checked Ms. Bones these books have been passed down through the family for generations and have been registered by the Minister himself as familial property, and as such they are well within the law."

"Well then I'm sure you won't mind if we take our inquiry up with the minister to validate your claims," said Alice sweetly.

"Be my guest Mrs. Longbottom, I'm sure you'll find I have nothing to hide," said Malfoy smirking victoriously.

"Well I guess that concludes our search here today, if you would be so kind Mr. Malfoy as to escort us out, we'll be leaving," said Frank.

"Of course Mr. Longbottom, I'll have Dobby show you the way. I'd just like to express my gratitude for all the hard work you put in conducting these raids, I daresay there could be a better use of your time, but I hope the ministry at least pays you overtime for your efforts," gloated Malfoy, as he stared disdainfully down at Arthur and his ripped clothing.

The disheartened mood of the four family members immediately picked up however, when they recognized the little elf that popped into the room to guide them out of the manor, as the same elf from Harry's pensieve memory.

Frank, Amelia, Sirius and Alice each wore passive looks as they were led out of the library door, but inside their minds were brimming with excitement, at the thought of being able to tie whatever plot Malfoy had planned for Hogwarts back to himself. Their unsettled nerves soothed by the fact that now they could tie a face to this unnamed threat. Now not only could they set out on working on a plan to free Dobby from this abusive environment, but they could catch Malfoy in the act. With that thought the three returned back to the Manor, smiling despite being unsuccessful at ascertaining Lord Malfoy once again.

* * *

**AN: The abbreviation S.P.H.E.R.E is not my idea. This idea belongs to mathiasgranger as one of my faithful readers was kind enough to point out. Once again, this idea was not mine, nor am I attempting to claim credit for it.  
**


	31. Back to School

As expected, the news that Dobby the house elf served the Malfoy family had a boisterous effect on the family, as they busied themselves brainstorming methods that would both allow them to expose the Malfoy's and free the little house elf from his abusive environment. Whatever action they took, they had to make sure it didn't put Dobby in any more danger, or the little guy would probably bear the brunt of Malfoy's anger.

For days on end, the kids would think of nothing else other then what Malfoy's plan might involve. Their previous studies on healing magic lay forgotten, as they concerned themselves with this new threat.

Eventually, seeing the kids wasting away in the library, reading over anything they could find on the Malfoy family became a little too unnerving for the parents, and they devised a plan to get the four kids out of the house.

While they couldn't do much in the magical world, there was still another world of possibilities at their fingertips.

Yes, despite the fact that the four kids were probably more familiar with the muggle world than most magical's their age, Emma and Dan believed that there were still plenty of things they had yet to experience, and planning a few excursions might be just what they needed to get the kids' minds off of the impending doom.

The plan was simple. Expose the kids to as many fun things as possible in the last week and a half of summer.

Emma had enthusiastically described the wonder of waterparks to the other adults; none of them had ever even heard of such things before, and were quick to add this to the list of activities that the family would be sure to visit. From the way Emma had described wave pools and waterslides, the adults were as amazed as any other ordinary 12 year old.

And that was just the tip of the mountain.

Dan hadn't even needed to use more than five words to describe roller coasters before James added amusement parks as the second item of business on the list.

It wasn't long before these two suggestions were joined by rock-climbing, laser-tag, mini-putting, bowling, go-karting, football games, and a trip to the movies.

Now all that was left was to decide which excursion they would do on each given day.

* * *

Lily smiled happily as she led the family in the amphitheatre to watch the latest Disney move – Aladdin. It had been the kid's choice of film, and she had been quite happy with the suggestion.

She still remembered the last time she and James had visited this very movie theatre, back when they were each eighteen years old, before they had gone into hiding with Harry.

She had decided to take James out to the movies, in the hope of opening him up to experience more of the muggle world. He had been reluctant at first, claiming that they could have more fun doing something in the wizarding world, but after the first twenty five minutes of watching Star Wars, the boy was hooked. She could specifically remember flirting with him and trying to engage him another one of their make-out sessions, but James was so fixated on the movie he was literally unresponsive. At the time she had been annoyed at his behaviour, but now when she thought back on it, not only was it completely understandable, it was also quite funny. As soon as the film had ended James had dragged her to no less than five stores looking to purchase lightsabers. To this very day the collectable was still framed on the wall in his workshop and James had dragged her off to go see each new Star Wars movie as soon as they were released.

Now though, Lily hardly ever thought about making out in the middle of the movie theatre, as she sat and enjoyed the film with the rest of her family. In fact if she were honest, she even took it upon herself to keep an eye on the children to see if they would try anything in the movie theatre, though both Neville and Harry were both far too enraptured by the film to even notice anything going on around them. _They're probably still too young for that anyway_, thought Lily as she turned her attention to the rest of the family.

She had to suppress a laugh when she saw James, Frank, and Sirius sneak out of the movie theatre to go see the latest Batman movie instead, leaving behind Dan and Remus to sit with the woman and children.

They might be in their early thirties but there was no denying the fact that they were still the same kids that once lurked through the hallways of Hogwarts looking for their next fix of adventure.

* * *

Sarah, Clarissa, Matthew and Joshua had all died and gone to heaven.

There was no other way to describe how the four youngest children felt about spending the day at a waterpark.

None of them were extremely strong swimmers, and as a result needed to be constantly supervised by their parents. However, that didn't bother them in the slightest.

They quite happily enjoyed splashing around in the shallow end of the wave pool, laughing as the occasional big wave knocked them off their feet.

Imagine their excitement when Frank managed to secure a large inflatable raft for them, so that they could sail into the deep end and join their older brothers and sisters.

Despite their young age, all four young Gryffindors were very strong swimmers and as a result, didn't have to rely on adult supervision.

When the younger kids joined them in the deep end on their raft, the four quickly made a game out of trying to climb up onto the device while the four youngest tried to push them off. The parents made sure to stay close by, worried that one of the younger kids could potentially fall off, but the children's laughter was too much for them to try and break up the scene.

After grabbing lunch, the family headed over to test out the water slides.

James and Sirius quickly sought out the tallest, scariest looking one in the park and practically raced each other up the stairs.

To their credit, both Harry and Susan had each expressed interest in following after them to ride the steep waterslide, but the parents were adamant that they work themselves up to the large one by trying the other water slides first.

Harry and Susan had just grinned at each other after hearing that, both racing off to find a water slide to their liking, with Hermione and Neville hot on their tails.

Lily, Emma, Amelia and Alice preferred to take the younger on a raft water slide; while Dan, Frank and Remus stayed behind to watch James and Sirius make fools of themselves on the largest water slide.

As it turned out, both James and Sirius managed to accomplish the feat without causing themselves bodily harm and even challenged them to try and beat their time.

The five men were still riding that water slide an hour later when Harry and Susan showed up having already ridden every other water slide in the park.

By the end of the day, even Hermione and Neville had overcome their fear of heights and ridden the water slide.

* * *

Dan smiled to himself as the family walked back to the car after a long day at the amusement park.

If they had thought the waterpark had been a success, it was nothing in comparison to seeing the kid's excitement at the prospect of riding roller coasters.

Harry had proven that he was just as big of an adrenaline junkie as anyone; frequently riding with James, Sirius and Frank on the largest and scariest looking rides available. It didn't take a genius to figure out that riding a roller coaster was very much like riding a broom, so obviously the four Quidditch players went for the most dangerous rides available.

Neville, Hermione and Susan, had preferred to ride with Remus, Alice and himself on the more intermediate roller coasters, while Lily, Amelia, and Emma once again took the younger children off to the more kid friendly rides.

He could hardly believe his eyes, when not two hours later, he found James and Harry accompanying Matthew, Joshua and Clarissa on the fastest ride in the park that didn't have a height requirement.

By the time they were all ready to go home, the family had explored the whole park, and were already in agreement to revisit the theme park once again when the children were older.

* * *

It seemed that in no time at all the morning of September the 1st arrived, and after Harry and Neville had been awoken by Hermione and Susan, the four headed down for a quick breakfast.

The four kids had almost completely forgotten about Dobby's warning and the threat of Malfoy over the past week, after the parents had taken them out day after day for activities. The four had thoroughly enjoyed them, but by the end of the week, they were so tired, they could hardly keep their eyes open. While this wasn't so much of a problem in bowling or mini-putt, it wasn't the safest thing to do when go-karting or rock climbing.

When they got downstairs, they weren't very surprised to find that both Amelia and Remus were already seated at the kitchen table, reading the day's paper and sipping on cups of coffee, seeing as how they both were usually the earliest risers out of the family.

"Morning Auntie, morning Moony," yawned Neville.

"Ah good you're up, we were just wondering if we should wake you," said Remus, folding up his paper to face the 4 kids that had just pulled out seats at the large table. "We were actually hoping to talk to you before you go off to school…"

"What about?" Asked Susan; curious as to what could have her worked her Aunt into such a state.

"Promise me again. I want your word that you won't go looking for trouble," said Amelia in her most stern voice possible.

"We promise Auntie, we won't go looking for trouble. We'll be on the lookout for any sign of danger, and we'll notify you as soon as Malfoy's plan becomes apparent." Said all 4 kids together in unison.

"Good, that's all we can ask for; that you keep us informed, and you don't go purposefully looking for trouble. Now I suggest you go wake up the rest of the family so we can get ready to go."

The four kids nodded their heads excitedly and ran off to wake up the rest of the family, each racing to be the one who gets to dump the bucket of water on Sirius to wake the old dog up.

"They're going to be right in the thick of it again this year aren't they Remus?" asked Amelia in a slightly worried voice.

Remus could only sigh as he nodded his head in agreement. "I'm afraid it seems inevitable, Harry seems to have inherited James's curse of having trouble find him wherever he goes."

"Let's just hope they get through it together like they did last year," said Amelia taking another sip of her morning coffee. "And on a side note, trouble wouldn't find James if he didn't insist on searching for it, the man practically held up signs daring it to come for him when he was younger, and might I add you and Sirius were no better."

Remus had the decency to blush at this statement, but still managed a witty reply.

"Not all of us could inherit the modesty and the common sense of a witch like Lily or yourself. The kids will be fine, Amelia, their cut from the right stuff. I know it's hard to admit sometimes, but this will be their war to fight. We just have to help them as much as we can," said Remus reaching out to pat the worried witch on the shoulder. Suddenly a slight smirk grew on his face, and with a twinkle in his eye he commented, "Imagine if anyone outside of the family saw you like this Amelia, you're cover identity as the hard-core Director would go out the window."

Amelia just shot her friend a look that could kill; she didn't even have to say anything as the look clearly said it all. If anyone else had made that remark, they'd be a dead man. Clearly Amelia had a soft side to her, a soft side that she reserved for family, and family only.

* * *

After a nice breakfast the entire family got into the interior expanded car once again for the short ride to Kings Cross station. None of the kids had to carry any of their luggage with them since had simply stowed their belongings inside Harry and Neville's wristwatches, so the only the only thing they had to carry were their pets. Neville kept Trevor in a pocket that Alice had charmed so the toad couldn't escape, whereas Crookshanks spent the entire trip sleeping on his master's lap, Hermione petting him the whole time. Hedwig on the other hand wasn't even with them, as she had opted to fly to Hogwarts by herself.

They got to the station without too much trouble, having avoided the worst of the traffic heading into the city. The trouble however, arrived when Harry and his sisters attempted to follow his parents through the barrier to platform 9¾. For whatever reason they couldn't get through, it was as if the barrier had blocked them. They were at a loss as to what could have caused the change between when Lily and James walked through until when Harry, Clarissa and Sarah tried.

When Clarissa and Sarah were able to cross through by themselves without a problem however, they were able to deduce that somehow the block was focused on Harry. So instead of going through the barrier, Sirius had to side-along apparate him onto the other side of the platform, where the boy was quickly grabbed by his mother, clearly shaken up as to why her son hadn't followed through the barrier right after her.

After everyone else had made it through the platform, the 4 kids said goodbye to their family and boarded the Hogwarts Express, filling in to the first empty compartment they could find.

It wasn't long before bodies starting filling the platform, and Susan, who had been watching out the window anxiously, dashed out of the compartment to greet Hannah.

They had seen a lot of the young witch and her family recently, as Susan had taken the liberty of inviting them go-karting, mini-putting, and bowling.

Susan led Hannah back inside their compartment, where the younger girl joined them for most of the train ride, before she asked Susan if she'd like to accompany her in trying to go and make friends with the other first years.

Susan had readily agreed, leaving behind Neville and Harry to engage in another game of Exploding Snap, as Hermione busied herself reading up on Lockhart's works.

* * *

When they got off at Hogsmeade station, Harry wasn't able to walk more than fifteen feet before he was approached by their new DADA Professor, though this time he was happy to note that Lockhart didn't make any move to grab his arm.

Harry spent the whole conversation, trying to look around the man to see where his friends were in the crowd ahead of him, while Lockhart droned on and on about cumulating fame and wanting to work together. He was really beginning to hate that stupid face-splitting phony smile.

He had already had this discussion with Neville a few nights after they had arrived back from their trip to Diagon Alley. While Lockhart's behaviour was one thing, it was his books that truly made the two boys believe that he was nothing more than a fraud.

The texts he had assigned were practically useless, as they tended to focus on simply listing his many accomplishments and character traits, rather than going into detail about how he had achieved any of his past successes. Both boys seriously doubted he had done any of the things he claimed he did in his books. Harry even proposed the idea of transfiguring a desk into a werewolf just to see if Lockhart could really wrestle it into submission, but Neville thought that wasn't the best way of exposing the fraud. The only information they had in them relevant to protecting oneself, were tips on how to ensure one doesn't scratch a nail in a fight. The worst part of it all was that the texts had cost a bloody fortune, as Lockhart had prescribed his entire life's work as the required readings for his class.

Grumbling about how he could get Hermione and Susan to see reason (both girls had denied their claims and believed they'd be proven wrong after Lockhart's first lecture) Harry went to meet up with his friends that were busy waiting off to the side of the line-up for the horse drawn carriages.

Once he got there, Hermione and Susan both wanted to talk to him about what Lockhart had said to him, but Harry was far more interested in the strange creatures that were pulling the carriages. He thought in strange that out of everyone in the crowd, virtually no one, not even his best friends, acknowledged the skeleton looking horses.

Confused, Harry was left to wonder if he needed to have a word with Hagrid about better feeding the animals. Whatever these creatures were, they had clearly been neglected.

Hermione, Neville and Susan simply assumed Harry's quietness was a result of him brooding over Lockhart and his fame, so they just let him be.

The two girls were still slightly miffed that Harry had actually burned Lockhart during their trip to Flourish and Blotts, citing that not only was his behaviour completely uncalled for, but it was also a rather stupid move if he wished to continue to keep his abilities secret, as thanks to that Daily Prophet reporter, the whole wizarding world knew the story.

Neville on the other hand, had stuck up for Harry and simply said that the ponce deserved it, what kind of DADA professor lets a 2nd year student get the drop on him?

It had been an argument that had gone on in the Manor ever since they had got back from Flourish and Blotts, so Harry was quite glad when they didn't pester him on the subject of Lockhart during the carriage ride.

Hermione had just started engaging Susan in a discussion about what they'd be learning in school this year, when Harry suddenly asked them if they could see the horses.

Neville, Hermione and Susan all looked at him like he had grown a second head, not knowing where that question had come from.

When they said no, Harry could only stare back at the strange horses, and contemplate whether or not he was under the effect of a potion or something. He seemed to be the only one able to see the weird things, so he figured he had to be under the influence or something. Maybe the cart lady had put something in the pumpkin pasties.

Confused by their friend's behaviour and slightly unnerved that Harry was now trying to make himself throw up, the three friends agreed to skip the opening feast and take him to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

They weren't there to hear it for themselves, but their were no imminent warnings of danger in Dumbledore's opening announcements, save the usual reminder to stay out of the forest.

Only after Madame Pomphrey had assured Harry that their was nothing wrong with him, did the four return to the Great Hall. Apparently the creatures he had seen pulling the carriages were called Thestrals and could only be seen by someone who had seen death. The other three didn't say anything as they could tell Harry was now feeling rather uncomfortable about the whole thing, brushing off his minor panic attack as if it was nothing.

Their strange behaviour, plus their late arrival, was enough to draw questions from many of their housemates when the four friends finally sat down at their house table, but the four friends didn't answer any questions.

It took them a whole three minutes to realize that they had missed the sorting, and Harry felt even worse about the whole thing knowing that he had made Susan miss Hannah's sorting.

That feeling only got worse when they learned that Hannah had been sorted into Hufflepuff, not Gryffindor.

Susan was understandably upset, but Hermione was insistent that even though they were in different houses, this wouldn't change their friendship.

That got mixed reviews from their housemates that were sitting closest to them. While a few of them thought it was great and all that they were making friendships that would transcend house borders, others weren't too happy about it.

Ron Weasley, who was sitting only a few feet away from the four, personally thought that the houses shouldn't mix. In his mind, all the other houses were inferior. If you went to Hufflepuff it meant you weren't good enough for Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. If you went to Ravenclaw you were probably some boring bookworm, whereas if you went to Slytherin you were obviously evil. It didn't make sense as to why they were worrying about a little girl that couldn't make the cut for the house of lions? The more and more he thought about it, the deeper his scowl became. In fact the only thing that brightened his mood was when the food arrived on the table, well that and the fact that Ginny had made Gryffindor. He didn't think he could live with the embarrassment of having a Hufflepuff in the family, much less a Slytherin.

* * *

Waking early the next morning, Neville silently got out of bed to take a shower, taking care not to wake any of his roommates, who were all sound asleep.

It seemed that the sound of the shower faucet woke Harry however, as the boy was already out of bed when Neville left the bathroom to put on his school robes.

"Morning Harry," said Neville cheerfully.

"Well aren't we in a good mood this morning," joked Harry. "Glad to be back at school, or just glad to get out of the house and away from the parents?"

Neville had to laugh at that, "they can be a little clingy sometimes can't they?"

"Yeah, they sure can," chuckled Harry, looking around to see he hadn't woken any of the three remaining sleeping boys. "I am going to miss the family meals though, it was nice eating with everyone at the table."

Neville was quick to respond to this. "Yea but we're all in Gryffindor so it's not like we're separated or anything…" but that's as far as he got on that train of thought, as another one claimed his attention. "Harry! What about Hannah? She'll be alone in Hufflepuff. You think we could sit with her at breakfast today?"

"So what!" moaned Ron from underneath the covers of his four-poster bed, angered at being woken at such a godly hour. "If she didn't make the cut than she clearly doesn't deserve to sit in Gryffindor with us."

"Ron you dumbass, it's not a competition to get into Gryffindor. All the houses have noble qualities. While Slytherin's stock has certainly fallen over the years with fools like Malfoy contaminating that house, I highly doubt Salazar Slytherin was a worthless wizard because he wasn't the Gryffindor founder, and the same can be said for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff." Neville said, sticking out his chest a little for standing up for himself against the more outspoken Ronald Weasley.

Harry however, who had to smile at his thoughtful friends suggestion, put an end to the ensuing argument. "Neville my brother, I think that's a great idea, and if you think I like it, Susan will absolutely love you for it," he said wryly as he wrapped his arm around Neville and guided him down to the common-room, laughing at his friends reaction to the thought of what Susan would do, as Ron was left to grumble and try and return to sleep.

Hermione and Susan were both sitting in the deserted common room at that early hour, and were quickly alerted to the boy's presence by the sound of laughter coming from the boy's dormitory.

As had become the usual between the 4 closely knit friends, they didn't even need words to express their emotions, as Hermione's arched eyebrow and Susan's look of amusement were all the boy's needed to know that they were expected to explain what could have got the usually late sleepers in such a good mood, at such an early hour.

Deciding not to keep them waiting, Harry unwrapped his arm from Neville's shoulder and quickly explained, "Well we were just talking about how different it's going to be at meals without having the family around us, and Neville here pointed out, that Hannah has no family in Hufflepuff. So we thought that maybe today we'd sit at the Hufflepuff table and keep her company, maybe meet some new people?"

Judging by the brilliant smiles on both girls' faces, they must've thought this was a wonderful idea, as Susan jumped up to wrap each boy in a hug before pulling them out the portrait hole, down towards the Great Hall.

* * *

That morning, Hannah, who had enjoyed a pleasant first evening in the house of badgers, was sitting down for a quiet breakfast at the Hufflepuff table with her new friend Bridget Fabler. While it was true she was a little disappointed she wasn't sorted into Gryffindor with Susan and the others, she was happy in Hufflepuff. She only hoped that she could still be friends with the 4 older students who had almost become like brothers and sisters to her over the summer.

She never would have expected to see the four friends waltz right up to the Hufflepuff table and sit down across from her.

"Hey Hannah, mind if we sit here," said Harry in a casual tone of voice. It was obvious that he was completely aware that just about everyone in the Great Hall was staring at him wondering why Harry Potter and his friends were at the Hufflepuff table, but the boy didn't seem to care.

"Uh sure guys, grab a seat," stammered the sandy blonde haired witch, as she received a crushing hug from Susan.

As the four Gryffindors took a seat at the Hufflepuff table, Hannah could feel the stares of her entire house boring into the back of her head. It seemed that Bridget had recognized that she had gone into a trance as she felt the girl's elbow connecting with her kidney, waking her out of her stupor. Merlin did that hurt!

"Uh guys this is Bridget, Bridget this is Susan Bones, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter."

The effect of this statement was dramatic of several people at the Hufflepuff table scooted closer towards the group. Bridget herself was now staring at Harry's scar wide-eyed, making the boy sitting across from her squirm uncomfortably.

"Oi what are you lot doing here?" said Ernie McMillan in the most arrogant voice possible. He was used to having the girls in his year hung up on him, and didn't like thew fact that Potter was moving in on his territory.

"We're sitting here with an old friend enjoying a nice breakfast," said Susan sweetly, as she batted her eyelashes cutely. "Surely you don't mind hosting four students for one meal don't you."

Ernie's face turned the colour of a slight shade of purple, as a few of the other wizards and witches that were seated at the Hufflepuff table laughed at the boy.

"Ernie how about you show some hospitality for once in your life," said a tall handsome brown haired boy, walking over to sit by them. "The names Cedric Diggory," he said as he stretched out his arm to shake hands with the four Gryffindors.

"It's great to meet you Cedric," said Neville. "My name's Neville, and this is Hermione, Harry, and Susan."

"Pleasure," chorused the other 3 Gryffindors taking turns to shake Cedric's hand.

Cedric just grinned and shook his head. "The pleasure's all mine. After all it's not every day you get to shake hands with Harry Potter," said Cedric, grinning at Harry's obvious discomfort of his fame, causing Susan to laugh. "Although with any luck we'll be shaking hands again come the Quidditch Cup Final this year, I think Hufflepuff will have a team that will really give you a run for your money Potter, we've got a veteran core and we'll be hungry this year, so you better bring you're A-game."

"You got it," grinned Harry.

With that the discussion turned to more peaceful talks about classes, summer vacation, and even S.P.H.E.R.E as the students relaxed and ignored the glances that their fellow students were shooting them every few seconds. It seemed that eating at another House table was unheard of at Hogwarts, but Harry and his friend's planned on changing that, considering Hannah was now in Hufflepuff.

* * *

Thanks to the Hufflepuff's, word of S.P.H.E.R.E spread through the castle fairly quickly, and when the four friends decided to hold the first meeting two days later, Hermione was shocked to see so many faces. Granted, a good 50% of them were older witches that probably came only because Harry Potter was one of the founding members, but by the end of the meeting there were still 30 students remaining!

She quickly recognized Hannah and her friend Bridget, Cedric, and Justin, who seemed to spearhead the Hufflepuff contingent. They made up a rather large portion of the collective group, but that made sense since they were also the largest house.

There were a few Ravenclaws in attendance and a decently strong representation from Gryffindor, consisting of the Quidditch Team, some others and the entire set of 1st years. Perhaps most noticeable was that a Slytherin actually joined the group: Daphne Greengrass.

Hermione could remember hearing all about the Greengrasses from the parent's discussions. Their family was one of the oldest in the wizarding world, and was quite well off having spent generations with considerable holds in the wizarding economy. Perhaps the most interesting thing about them was that they were notorious for their neutral stance, and were one of the few old families that didn't take a side in the last war.

Daphne herself seemed to live up to that reputation, as Hermione had never seen the pretty black haired witch communicate with anyone besides her best friend, Tracey Davies.

She was quite surprised to see her at the meeting, and even thought of introducing herself to the girl, but thought better of it. She didn't want to scare her off after only the first meeting by coming off too strong.

* * *

The meeting itself went quite well, as the four kids handed out brochures and buttons supporting their cause, and even received helpful input from the newcomers. They were shocked to learn that those members who weren't muggle-born were well aware of the treatment towards house-elves and while they didn't approve of it, had done little to nothing to change it, other than treat their own elf with respect.

If anything the meeting served as an eye opener. While it was true that there was interest in their cause, they would still have a lot of work in front of them if they hoped to accomplish their goals.

* * *

That night, while Hermione was fussing over planning future S.P.H.E.R.E meetings and any work that had to be done; Harry, Ron, Neville and Susan were disillusioned and wandering the castle, looking for a pear shaped painting.

The whole thing started off as Harry's idea of both doing something nice for Hermione's birthday and forwarding their knowledge on House elves treatment, so after a quick check of the Marauders Map, he was leading the search for the school kitchens.

Neville and Susan had both jumped at the idea to do something special for Hermione, and Ron had practically invited himself along once he had overheard where they were going. The boy was practically a human waste disposal for food, so the three friends didn't even have to explain why they were looking for the kitchens, before Ron was out of his chair and ready to go.

It took a little while, but eventually they were able to find the large portrait of a basket of fruit, and after tickling the pear, as per Sirius's instructions, the 4 kids were greeted with the sight of over a hundred elves bustling around a large hall, preparing various dishes.

It was amazing. The scene looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. The four friends could only stand in the open doorway, their faces lit up in awe, after Harry cancelled their disillusionment charms.

"Excuse me Mr.'s and Ms." Said an elf dressed in what looked like a pink towel, with the Hogwarts crest sewed onto her uniform. "My name is Tinka, can Tinka help you with anything?"

"Uh yes Tinka that would be great. We're actually here to bake a cake for our friend for her birthday, and we were also wondering if you'd be able to tell us a little more about House elves," said Harry.

"Wait a second, that's why we're here?" asked Ron incredulously. "To bake a cake and ask about some stupid elves? I thought we were going to get something to eat!"

"Ron! Can't you think of anything besides your stomach!" growled Susan. "We're here to do something nice for our friend and productive for S.P.H.E.R.E. Since you obviously don't care about either, I suggest you just leave."

Ron just stood there like an idiot, his face growing redder and redder before he stormed out of the room, not giving Harry the chance to replace his disillusionment charm, something that would cost Gryffindor 30 points and land Ron with a weeks' worth of detentions, scrubbing the bathroom floors for Filch. It was safe to say that Ron Weasley was pissed.


	32. Dealing with Lockhart

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter, never will, never did.**

**AN: Sorry for the long wait between chapter updates - it's been a pretty busy holiday season so I didn't had that much time to work on the story.**

**Hope you like this chapter - it'll have more of that deviation away from canon. Enjoy!**

* * *

That Monday saw the start of the fall term, something that Harry and Neville were both looking forward to and dreading at the same time.

It started off like any other day, with both boys rising early to get ready while their other three dorm mates slept in to catch the tail end of breakfast. As it so happened, Ron overslept and missed the first meal of the day, which lead him to accuse Harry of betraying him or some nonsense. Harry just ignored him; he really wasn't in the mood for another confrontation with Ron, especially not before first period. Things had gotten pretty bad between Ron and them, and he seemed to hold Harry personally responsible for this.

Hermione thought his jealousy might have been a result of Ron's lack in popularity in comparison to what he experienced at the end of their first year, but Susan thought he was just being stupid.

The fact of the matter was that whatever had caused Ron to resort to acting like an insatiable git didn't really matter to Harry, but his behaviour was really starting to get on his nerves. Neville had already had to put an end to a few arguments before they could escalate into full-fledged confrontations, and if recent events were anything to go on, he'd likely have to continue that trend.

But for all his annoying tendencies, Ron was only Ron, and Harry was more than prepared to deal with him.

The person that really ruined his mood that morning was Gilderoy Lockhart.

When he and Neville had finally made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, they were suddenly reminded that today was their first DADA class as all the girls in their year had already finished eating and were whispering amongst each other as they watched Lockhart who was sitting next to McGonagall at the Head table and failing miserably at his attempt to engage her in conversation.

Harry just rolled his eyes and sat down at the Gryffindor table across from Hermione and Susan, as he proceeded to help himself to some breakfast, with Neville doing the same beside him.

Now neither boy ate as much as Ron, but they still enjoyed their food, and having the two girls practically drag them off to class 20 minutes early so they could ensure they got a good seat was a little aggravating.

Even worse was the realization that Hermione and Susan weren't the only ones with this idea, and the two boys were forced to listen to Parvarti and Lavender gossiping about their new Professor for the next 20 minutes while they waited for class to start, their stomach's still rumbling from not being able to finish their meal.

It didn't get any better from there.

When the doors opened, their was practically a stampede as every girl in the hallway fought to get a seat closest to the front, while the boys simply grumbled and slouched down in one of the empty chairs at the back of the classroom.

Where as Quirrell hadn't bothered to put up any decorations or anything to liven up the space during his regime as a teacher, Lockhart had plastered just about every inch of the classrooms walls with either photographs of himself, or mirrors.

Five minutes later when Lockhart strode into classroom fashionably late, bragging about the fact that he was a five time winner of witch weekly's best smile award and honorary member of the defence league, Harry was sure this man was full of it.

He didn't need any more evidence to support this claim other than the eight page quiz that Lockhart handed out to the class as their first homework assignment, the entire thing filled with questions such as, "What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?" or "What line of shampoo does Gilderoy Lockhart prefer?"

He and Neville didn't even bother to read past the first five questions on their tests before they simply started circling answers at random. They both finished early and could do little other than to roll their eyes and grumble about Hermione's and Susan's obvious over-enthusiasm.

Thirty minutes later, and Lockhart was reading out the scores to the kids and congratulating those who did well, giving special mention to Hermione for receiving a perfect score. This of course only served to earn more giggles from the girls and a couple of loud groans from the boys.

When class ended, Harry and Neville were out of their seat faster than a professional Quidditch player as they dashed out of the classroom and down towards the kitchens for a late meal.

They couldn't spend another minute in Lockhart's presence.

* * *

Hermione and Susan had both stayed behind at the end of the class hoping to have a quick word with their defense professor.

Their hope was to have him sign off on their permission slips to use the forbidden section of the library, as they needed a teacher's signature if they wanted to carry on their readings of advanced healing spells.

Od course, his autograph was for completely functional purposes only, it's not like they'd put in under their pillow at night or anything. No there was nothing wrong with what they were doing, even if they had their very own fully functioning library at home. Besides, no one had to know.

"Uh sir… we were wondering… if it's not too much trouble… if you wouldn't mind… signing off on these permission slips for us?" stammered a blushing Hermione.

Lockhart, who had been busy fixing his hair in his handheld mirror, put it down to look at the two young girls before him.

"Ah yes shouldn't be a problem, hand them over and I'll see what I can do about it," said the man charmingly, causing the two girls to only blush further.

"Ambitious are we," laughed Lockhart, noticing what the slip of paper was and smiling at the two girls beetroot faces.

"Now what would two fine students such as yourselves need to use the Forbidden section of the library for? I'm sure you know very well that you could just come to me with any of your questions," said Lockhart proudly.

Hermione and Susan were both blushing furiously, but Susan managed to stammer out that they'd like to be able to read up on more of the creatures that he'd subdued during his travels.

Lockhart seemed to accept this and happily took out an extravagant quill and signed off of the forms, before giving them back to the girls and instructing them to make sure to read up on travels with trolls for next class, as he gathered up his things and exited the room.

Hermione and Susan just stood there for a minute, still struggling to believe that they had gotten his autograph so easily.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up if I was you Granger," came the mocking voice from the back of the room. "A bookworm like you might be good for getting a perfect score on his little quiz, but no respectable wizard would even give you a second look."

It was Pansy Parkinson, a pug-faced pureblood that was usually never less than ten feet away from either Draco Malfoy or Millicent Bulstrode. She was also another girl that had a crush on their defence professor, if her behaviour in class was anything to go off of.

Hermione felt deeply hurt by the Slytherin girl's words, though she was determined not to give Pansy the satisfaction of upsetting her. Thankfully, she had Susan to back her up, so when both girls threatened to pull out their wands, Pansy didn't hesitate to retreat.

"Don't listen to a word she says Hermione, she's just a jealous moron," said the redhead, as she flicked her wand causing the door to shut cloased.

Hermione wanted to allow herself to think that, but she just couldn't let go of the insecurity that there may be some truth to the girls words. "But what if she's right? I mean I have buck-teeth, and my hair is a mangled mess, what boy would look at me, Hermione Granger, when there's girls in are class like you, Lavender, or Daphne who are much prettier, and have already started developing."

"Hermione you can't think like that," said Susan, pulling her over to a desk so the two of them could sit down to have a proper private conversation. "You've got a great personality, and you shouldn't sell your looks short either, any guy would be lucky to have you – and if they can't notice that well then it's their loss."

Hermione gave her friend a small smile, as the two hugged it out, happy that even though they were going through a tough time emotionally, they had each other to turn to.

Sometimes having friends just made all the difference.

* * *

As fate would have it however, that wasn't the last time Harry had a run-in with Lockhart that day.

After he and Neville had eaten lunch, Hermione and Susan never showed up to the Great Hall for some reason, they had to head down to the greenhouses for Herbology.

Unfortunately, Harry never made it to Herbology. The reason for this was that he was intercepted by none other than Gilderoy Lockhart as soon as he made it outside, with the man promising that he wouldn't take more than a minute of his time, and then proceeding to keep him for the entire lesson. This of course, made Harry very angry. Not only did he miss Professor Sprouts important lecture on how to pot Mandrakes, but he had likely lost Gryffindor house points as a result, and all because this fool was trying to convince him to go on some sort of world tour with him.

It wasn't long before Harry went from being angry to livid. After forty minutes of listening to the arse babbling on and on about fame and glory, he finally lost it. He didn't just burn Lockhart's arm like he did in Flourish and Blott's during their trip to Diagon Alley, no this time Harry's release of magic caused the man's skin to turn blue, and all the hair on his body to fall off. Lockhart had practically ran for the hills when he'd noticed what became of his marvellous physique, and Harry was left standing there trying to contain his anger, not feeling an ounce of sympathy for what he'd just done. He figured McGonagall would probably take a few more house points off of him, hell he could possibly be suspended for hexing a professor, but at the moment he really didn't care, he needed to do something to get that ponce off his back.

As soon as Lockhart was out of view, Harry chose to march right back up to the castle instead of meeting up with his classmates in the greenhouse, determined to question Dumbledore as to why he had hired the fraud in the first-place.

He paid little to no attention to a clingy Colin Creevy who was running as he attempted to keep pace with Harry, desperate to ask his idol, the-boy-who-lived as many questions as possible.

Harry only eventually relented to the younger boys persistency when he made it to the bottom of the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to the Headmaster's office, and even then he didn't give him much else than the time of day.

"Look Colin, I'm not in the mood right now, you can ask me questions about Quidditch later, but I've got something urgent to do with the Headmaster right now, so if you could just leave me alone right now, that would be great," said Harry irritably.

Colin's excitement however, wasn't in the least bit dampened by Harry's rejection.

"Ok Harry, I'll see you back in the common room, I'll save you a seat on one of the couches by the portrait hole so we can talk then," said the little boy as he raced away, leaving Harry alone with the Gargoyle.

Finally alone, Harry was ready to relieve himself of some of his anger, only to find that he now had a new problem to face, one that was so blatantly stupid, it was enough to make his frustration reach new levels.

He had no clue what the password was.

* * *

Severus Snape had just finished his fourth year potions class with the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs and was on his way to complain about his post as a teacher to Albus Dumbledore at that very moment.

He was eternally grateful to the old man for everything he had done for him, not only providing him sanctuary in the walls of the castle, but also giving him a second chance on life, one that he himself often questioned whether he was worthy of.

Albus Dumbledore was the man he looked up to above all others, but the one decision he had yet to agree with, was his choice of appointing him as a teacher. While there was no denying he was talented, he felt that his talents would be far better off brewing potions in a private store or for the Headmaster's personal use, not wasting his time teaching children.

Not only did he find their lack of aptitude appalling, but the constant unnecessary bickering that came from living with a school full of immature children was enough to drive him insane. Yes if their was one thing that Severus Snape didn't care for, it was other people's petty problems. His life was full of enough misfortune and bloodshed that he'd long since lost the ability to care about anything other than a life or death situation. The fact that both his job at Hogwarts and his role as a spy amongst the Dark Lord's followers demanded him to do just that, was probably the most infuriating thing in Snape's far too long life, well that and the fact that Lily Evans had married James Potter and it had been entirely his fault.

As it would so happen, the scene he should walk in on as he turned the final corner onto the corridor that lead up to the Headmasters chambers, was a perfect combination of those very two things.

Harry Potter seemed to be having the equivalent of a temper tantrum.

* * *

Harry had just finished repairing the last suit of armour after accidentally blowing up the far wall with a couple of overpowered reducto's when he heard the sound of a slow clap of applause coming from behind him.

While originally embarrassed that someone might have seen him venting his frustration, Harry almost smirked when he heard the accompanying voice remark, "I take it your survival with Quirrel was no fluke Potter."

Turning around, Harry put his wand back into his pocket as he stared down the corridor at the form of Severus Snape, a smile creeping up onto his face.

"Can I presume that little magic show was a result of not knowing the password to visit the Headmaster?" asked Snape, his face not showing any trace of emotion. At Harry's slow nod, he proceeded with, "very well follow me."

Harry had to race off after Snape, as the man didn't dawdle around to wait for Harry, instead he simply spun on his heel, strode up to the gargoyle and recited the password before climbing the stairs to Dumbledore's office, all the while never looking back at Harry.

It was Harry's first time in Dumbledore's office and he did have to say that the sight took away a bit of his anger. The large room was lined with bookcases that contained small silvery orbs, rare books, and old paintings of previous Headmasters. It was truly a remarkable scene, but his attention was none the less attracted towards the large oak desk the Headmaster was currently sitting at, and the red and gold phoenix resting on its stand behind him.

"Ah Harry. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever enter my office, or if you would prefer dismantling my suits of armour," said the jovial grandfatherly figure of Albus Dumbledore.

"You saw that?" asked Harry, feeling truly embarrassed for letting his anger get to him so much.

"Of course I did," said the Headmaster cheerfully, taking off his half moon spectacles to wipe them with his purple silk hanky. "How else would I be alerted as to someone's presence at my door, if they didn't know the password? Now may I ask as to what I owe the pleasure of your little visit? You certainly didn't seem very happy out in the hall."

For some reason, these words didn't make Harry feel like a little embarrassed 12 year-old that had just been caught spending the last five minutes blasting school relics, no instead it gave him the confidence to explain himself.

"With all due respect Headmaster, I was wondering what led you to hire Lockhart as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor this year. The man is full of dragon dung; I'm willing to bet he hasn't actually done any of the things he claims to in his books. To make matters worse the pompous fool won't stop heckling me about helping him gain a further footing in the spotlight. I can't even go to my Herbology class without having to deal with the idiot," finished Harry not caring about the language he used to describe his new DADA Professor, after all Hermione wasn't there to chastise him. Putting up with Quirrell's incompetence had been one thing, but even with the Dark Lord in his head, he at least taught them something.

The old wizard in question simply leaned back in his chair and continued to clean his spectacles. Satisfied with his work, he once again put them back on before regarding the young lad he had come to see as his own grandson.

"While I agree with what you say Harry, I couldn't find anyone else for the position. No-one is willing to accept the responsibility given the perception that the job is cursed."

"But Lockhart's worse than Quirrel! He might have been attached to Voldemort but at least he actually talked about the subject," interjected Harry. "I mean isn't there anyone else? Amelia's the head of the DMLE couldn't we just get an Auror to teach the class? There's got to be someone…"

"Be that as it may, the wizarding population seems to be more then content with learning from the man. All I could do for you is to arrange for you to receive a few advanced private lessons if you're unsatisfied with the level of your current class, given how far ahead you are of your peers in this particular subject."

"As long as it's not with Lockhart," said Harry. "I really just wish someone would expose that fraud for who he really is…"

Harry's eyes had gone wide before he had even finished that statement, a plan of action coming to mind as to how to cut down Lockhart.

Dumbledore could only smile at the lad. "Would I be correct in assuming you have arrived at a plan to do that very thing?"

Harry didn't have to answer that question, his smile just gave him away.

"While I usually wouldn't condone such actions against a Professor, given the circumstances, I would be willing to pardon any harmless pranks you or your friends were to pull against the man in attempt to reveal his true nature, so long as they don't cause him physical harm."

Harry couldn't see any harm in this arrangement, so he quickly agreed.

"I would also request, that you allow yourself to be caught for these acts, as it would present the perfect opportunity for Severus to give you private lessons during any detentions he assigns you, as well as reinforcing his visage of hatred towards you."

Harry was stunned. He had to hand it to the Headmaster. When it came to scheming, Dumbledore had no competitors. This plan was truly brilliant. It would work perfectly for Snape, giving off the impressions that he hated him, when all the while he was providing him with the advanced private lessons he had never received since he started Hogwarts. It would be a win-win situation for both of them, and it allowed Harry to pull as many pranks on Lockhart as he wanted.

Grinning madly at the old man's genius, Harry quickly accepted the offered proposal before running out of the office to begin planning his first prank on his Defence teacher.

He decided he would include Hermione, Neville, Susan, and the Weasley twins, although he would first have to convince the two girls that Lockhart was a phony. He hoped their upcoming class on Cornish pixies would do the trick. He wasn't going to tell them about his arrangement with Snape however. That was a secret that he wasn't yet ready to divulge.

And so it was a much happier Harry Potter that returned to the Gryffindor Common Room to chat with his friends, then the one that had stormed up to the headmaster's office, only a few minutes prior.

* * *

While Neville was all for the idea, Hermione and Susan were both appalled by Harry's plan to prank the handsome well-respected Professor, as they blatantly refused to admit that the man was a fraud, citing that the quiz they received in class was just something to test if they'd done their reading.

The boys didn't press the matter, they knew better than to argue with Hermione or Susan when they had their mind set.

Harry just hoped that Friday's defence class would open their eyes a bit as that lesson was scheduled to be their first practical lesson of the term.

Neither he nor Neville knew what was causing the two girls to start acting so weird, but they were sure they didn't like it. They wanted the old Hermione and Susan back, and if taking Lockhart down was what it took for that to happen, than they were more than prepared to make that sacrifice.

* * *

As it turned out though, Friday's defence class was exactly the kind of performance needed to shed some doubt on Hermione and Susan's unwavering loyalty with regards to their newest Professor.

Like the class before that, it started off with Lockhart over-dramatizing what he planned on showing them during that class.

When he announced that the subject of this class would be none other than Cornish Pixies, most of the boys erupted into fits of laughter eliciting death stares from the girls, but that all changed as soon as Lockhart opened the doors of the small cage.

Sitting in the back of the class, Harry had plenty of time to put up a shield around him and Neville before the swarm of pixies got to them. The rest of their class however, wasn't so lucky.

Seamus Finnegan was lifted by a half a dozen of these little creatures up into the air until he was hung upside down from the chandelier by the hems of his robes.

Lockhart was woefully unprepared to handle the havoc he had just unleashed as his miserable attempt to get the situation under the control, had more than a handful of people questioning if he knew how to perform magic at all. When one particular pixie was actually able to steal his wand right out of his hand, Lockhart actually abandoned the kids to their fate by running out of the classroom, hoping that the remaining students would be able to get the situation under control themselves.

Hermione and Susan, both of who had been sitting in their usual spots front and centre were the first ones hit by the swarm of pixies, and as a result had no chance to protect themselves.

The two girls could only watch helplessly as the little creatures ripped apart their backpacks, tossed their textbooks into the air, knocked over desks, chased both their classmates and their Professor out of the room, and even broke the dinosaur skeleton that was hanging from the ceiling.

It was at that moment that they realized that maybe what Harry and Neville were saying about their new defence teacher might have a small element of truth.

Speaking of the two boys, Harry and Neville were the only ones left in the demolished classroom aside from Seamus who was hanging from the chandelier, and Padma Patil who was pinned under a fallen bookshelf.

After firing off over a dozen immobilization spells in attempt to freeze their attackers and only successfully hitting three of the two-dozen creatures, the two girls were forced to admit that they wouldn't be able to fix this situation on their own.

Harry and Neville were still sitting at their desks under the protection of their golden shield trying to contemplate the onslaught of what they had just watched.

Hermione and Susan knew what it would take to get the two boys to help them, but they knew they didn't have any other choice at that moment.

They weren't to keen to admit that the handsome Professor they had both been secretly crushing on for the past month was nothing more than a pathetic fraud, as that would prove to be rather embarrassing.

Thankfully, Harry and Neville didn't press them to something like that. Instead, Harry just started firing off overpowered immobilization charms, freezing several pixies at the same time, while Neville went over to free Padma from under the bookshelf that had fallen on top oh her.

Both girls were extremely thankful that Harry and Neville didn't bug them about the whole thing, as both girls realized there was a very strong possibility that they were crushing on a fraud.

It was with this degrading realization that both girls decided to listen to their friend's claims about their new Professor, and maybe even participate in whatever pranks they were planning if they felt the man deserved it.

After all, both girls were feeling rather embarrassed about the whole thing, and wanted to expose the man for whatever lies he's told the magical community, especially to the hundreds of young women that were also crushing over him.

Harry and Neville were both secretly quite pleased with how that class had turned out, as they could tell just by looking at their friends that it had shattered their perfect image of Gilderoy Lockhart. There was even hope that maybe they could be brought in on their plan to bring down the fraud, as they had already been successful in approaching the Weasley twins.

The twins, like most of the male population at Hogwarts, already believed Lockhart to be a fraud, and were quick to volunteer for the mini-marauders plan, eager to pull a prank on the pompous idiot, that had almost the entire female population crushing on him, including their mother.

* * *

The plan was simple, yet destructive.

They weren't planning to construct small pranks intending to humiliate the man, no their goal was to ruin him.

They were going to attack the very thing Lockhart cherished most; his image, exposing to everyone the lies he had reconstructed and the false credit he had claimed as his own.

From what they knew after only a few classes with the man, and from reading the inconsistencies and blatant exaggerations in his books, Harry and Neville were both willing to bet their right arm Lockhart hadn't done everything he had claimed to have done.

The hope was to expose these secrets to the public, so that everyone was made aware of the man's lies.

The first part of their plan consisted of bringing the parents in on their plan, as the hope was that they could use their connections at the Ministry to ensure that Lockhart was interrogated for his claims.

The next stage was to begin exposing how fraudulent Lockhart's claims were, whether it be showcasing how pitiful his magical strength were or the unrealistic exaggerations he made in his texts.

It was here that Hermione and Susan both truly realized the ugly truth of the matter, that everything Harry and Neville had said about the man was true. After re-reading their textbooks with a critical eye, they both became blatantly aware of how blind they had been by their infatuation. As a result, the two became relentless in their efforts to smear Lockhart's public image, something that pleased both Harry and Neville immensely.

The only problem was that even though they had unofficially received Dumbledore's blessing to prank the new defence Professor, they may have been a little too strong in their harassment, as Snape was forced to give Harry a weeks worth of detentions after he had broke into the potions masters private store-room to steal the three main ingredients for a forgetfulness potion.

In truth, Harry had actually gone to Snape to request these ingredients after explaining his intended use for them, but telling everyone he had broken into Snape's storeroom was the perfect excuse for the Potions Master to give him a week worth of detentions.

The two spent that week going over improving Harry's Occlumency shields, and after five two-hour sessions with the master Occlumens, Harry had a much better understanding of how to close off his mind than he did from the basic teaching his parents had given him. With Snape's help, Harry had learned how to expel someone from his mind by the end of the week. With that kind of progress, Harry was quick to continue his pranking of Lockhart to further his lessons with Snape.

It wasn't long before Lockhart chose to spend all his spare time within his private quarters, often refraining from eating in the Great Hall during meals, and only coming out to attend his lessons. The man no longer carried himself like he was god's gift to woman, choosing instead to run from door to door in fear.

It seemed that Gilderoy Lockhart had been well and truly humiliated. Now if only they could do something to strip the man of the false legend surrounding him.

* * *

"Susan are you sure this is going to work?" asked an anxious Harry Potter, as he waited outside the Great Hall.

"Of course Harry. You know the plan, just go in there, sit down at the Gryffindor table, wait for the signal, and then cast one of your wandless compulsion charms on Lockhart. If you can get him to walk out of the hall and into a deserted hallway, we can have Amelia flame in with Hedwig and take him away to be questioned under veratiserum, and by this time tomorrow everyone in Britain will know the truth about Gilderoy Lockhart." Said Susan in an excited voice, a slight gleam of revenge in her eyes that gave away her desire to get back at the man who had manipulated her emotions so humiliatingly.

"Ok, we're going in to take our positions at the Hufflepuff table with Hannah, when we get up to leave, that's the cue for Hermione and the Twins to execute their part of the plan. Once they've provided the distraction, it's your job Harry to get Lockhart out of the hall and into the deserted classroom down the hall, where Susan and I will be waiting with Amelia." Said Neville in a nervous voice, before being led by an impatient Susan into the Great Hall.

"Well I guess it's time to make you invisible then, isn't it?" asked Harry, winking at the girl who was now working herself into a state of distress around her role in the prank. "Oh come on Hermione, you'll be great. You're the only one that can do this, Susan's too clumsy, Neville isn't quick enough on his feet, and I have to cast the compulsion charm on Lockhart."

Hermione still wasn't looking very confident.

"Don't worry you'll be fine, no one's going to be able to see you," said Harry, hoping to alleviate her fear.

Hermione finally relented at this. "I can't believe I'm actually going through with this. I mean pranking a Professor! You've really had a bad influence on me Potter!"

Harry had to smile at that as he wrapped his now invisible friend in a hug. "I know Hermione, and I promise you don't have to do anymore pranks after this if you don't want to."

"What and let you guys have all the fun without me? Not a chance. Besides I need to keep an eye on you guys, can't have my best friends spending all their days in detention now can I?" came the invisible voice of Hermione. Harry just smiled and held open the door behind him for his friend to slip into the hall undetected, while he made his way over to the Gryffindor table.

It was time to set their plan in action.

After an anxious 10 minutes or so Harry saw Neville and Susan excuse themselves from the Hufflepuff table, before exiting the hall.

Then came Hermione's and the twins' part.

The twins executed their parts perfectly, jumping out of their seats at the Gryffindor table and actually engaging each other in a fistfight on top of the table.

McGonagall, Flitwick and Hagrid were all out of their seats in a flash to break up the fight, allowing Hermione to sneak up to the Head Table and slip a potion into the distracted Lockhart's goblet completely unnoticed.

When Harry saw her flash her patented blue bell flame charm, he knew that she had been successful and it was his turn to act.

With all the commotion going on at the other end of the Gryffindor table, no one noticed the small black haired boy casting a wandless compulsion charm on the defence professor.

_Get up and leave the hall,_ thought Harry furiously as he struggled to maintain the intense connection needed to cast the charm. He was well aware that this charm infringed upon the ethics that the Imperius curse did and that was classified as an unforgivable. There were only two differences between the two spells. The first was that the compulsion charm didn't give the castor complete control of the recipients mind like the Imperius curse did, instead it only allowed them to tell the recipient to perform a task that they might normally do of their own inhibition. The second difference was that the person was fully aware of the actions they had undergone while under the curse, where as those people who were put under the Imperius didn't retain any memories of their behaviour while under the unforgivable curse. That meant that Hermione's part of slipping Lockhart a temporary forgetfulness potion was integral to the success of getting Lockhart out of the castle and interrogated at the Ministry if they were to do so without him being any the wiser.

By the time Dumbledore had restored silence to the Great Hall, Lockhart had already wandered into the abandoned classroom off the corridor adjacent to the entrance hall, with Harry already getting up to leave, making sure to hold the door open long enough for Hermione to sneak through.

"That was pretty exhilarating, breaking the rules and all," came Hermione's voice from beside him.

Harry could only stare at the empty space in shock, before a grin began to form on his face. He knew this person was Hermione, but it certainly didn't sound like the Hermione he knew.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?" said Harry, pretending to get ready to curse the invisible person in front of him.

When Hermione didn't respond he decided to clarify with a little more light teasing. "You know the adorable bushy haired little girl that once thought being killed was a preferable alternative to being kicked out of school. The one who spent nearly a year chastising me and Neville for the slightest disregard of authority."

Hermione still didn't say anything. Unknown to Harry she was having in an inner conflict with herself at his little speech. While he may have made a friendly jab at her old persona, Harry had nonetheless said that he thought she was adorable! She couldn't keep the goofy grin off her face as she reached out and punched him on the arm.

"Hey no fair I can't defend myself from an invisible opponent," said Harry, throwing his arms up in defeat.

Hermione just laughed. "Oh come on, aren't you the boy-who-lived? You're telling me you can't even stand up for yourself against a 12-year-old girl? How becoming of you Harry," said Hermione cheekily, before running off down the hall to find Lockhart, Neville, Susan, and Amelia, leaving behind a very confused and happy Harry Potter.

The whole plan had worked brilliantly, and they were able to transport the now stunned Gilderoy Lockhart to a Ministry holding cell where he would be questioned by Amelia and her staff under veratiserum. It wouldn't be long before news of Lockhart's lies reached the Daily Prophet.

* * *

While the children of Hogwarts were preparing for bed that evening, Lucius Malfoy poured himself another glass of single malt whiskey.

Since the disappearance of his master, Lucius had actually enjoyed several prosperous few years. In fact without the burden of having to finance the majority of the Dark Lords plans, Lucius's fortune had almost doubled over the last 10 years.

This increase in wealth, and the more laid-back standard of life he was now able to live considering the end of his days as the Dark Lord's Lieutenant were enough for him to question why he ever became a death eater in the first place.

True he despised muggles, mudbloods and all of the blood traitors who supported them, but even he could see the advantages to his new lifestyle. He would much rather give up a few attacks on the muggle population if it meant he had a few extra million galleons in his family vault.

It was here where the sheer brilliance of his plan took place. Using his master's diary, his pawn would unknowingly open the chamber of secrets and unleash its monster onto the student population, effectively ridding Hogwarts of its mudbloods and those unworthy to study magic.

With the parents in a state of panic concerning their child's safety, his petition to remove Dumbledore from his position of Headmaster would undoubtedly receive a full backing by the board of governors – not even the Potters would be able to save the Headmasters skin.

With Dumbledore out of his seat of power, he would finally be able to gain the footing inside Hogwarts that no one other than Severus had been able to gain in the school.

If he were successful, his master would surely reward him beyond his wildest dreams, and the next war would be short and easy.

Yes, he would indeed be sitting pretty when his master finally made his return. He was certain his master was not dead, there was no way the Dark Lord could be defeated by the hands of a baby. Besides he knew from the outline of his dark mark on his left forearm that he was still alive.

Lucius would just have to ensure he was fully prepared when his master finally made his return.

The way he saw it he had two options. The first being that he return to his master's service like nothing had changed over the last ten years and demonstrate the work he had completed in his absence, or if that somehow wasn't an option, he could always take his wealth and leave Britain, hoping to escape.

Either way he would have to ensure he didn't disappoint his master; enraging the Dark Lord was asking for death. But he was sure his plan would guarantee his good favour when that time came.

With those happy thoughts, Lucius drained the last of his bottle, throwing the discarded glass at his useless servant and strode up the large marble staircase to bed.

He had a mistress to please.

* * *

Not even the mini Marauders could have predicted the extent of Lockhart's lies. Amelia had uncovered everything in her examination of the wizard and the next morning's edition of the Prophet displayed the truth for every witch and wizard in Britain to read.

No more was the legend of the handsome wizard that had slayed trolls and battled yeti's, but instead he was replaced with the fraud that had lied about each of his so called accomplishments and had obliviated the various witches and wizards he had stolen the credit from.

Harry doubted Lockhart would ever be able to show his face in public ever again, now that he had every witch in Britain despising his guts. That really didn't matter though as considering the numerous charges the man was now facing, his precious public image was no more.

With Lockhart effectively sacked and removed from the castle, all that was left was to find a replacement for the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and Amelia had already offered to have one of her Aurors fill the position. She had told Dumbledore it was solely for the purpose of providing the students with a proper education, but it also put her in the position of appointing someone to the school who could monitor the situation of Malfoy's threat to the school.

It seemed inevitable that barring a disaster, the children of Hogwarts were destined for a suitable Defence Teacher for the first time in years.

The only question, was who?

* * *

**So what did you think?  
**

**Please leave a review to share your thoughts with me, or favourite and follow if you liked it. The more of those I get the more dedicated i am to continuing on the story and being quicker about updating.**

**Until next time, KD  
**


End file.
